Waspie_Dwarf Posted May 20, 2015 #1 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Are Mars's moons homegrown-or snatched from the asteroid belt? Long after astronomers found moons orbiting other planets in our solar system, Mars remained a loner. It wasn’t until the late 1800s, when astronomer Asaph Hall tried, failed, and then-at the urging of his wife-tried again, that scientists got their first peek at the Red Planet’s two tiny moons, which Hall named Phobos and Deimos.A century later, spacecraft images revealed that the moons look like asteroids-dark, crater-pocked, and potato-shaped-suggesting Mars had snatched them from the nearby asteroid belt. Now, planetary scientists have conducted the first computer simulations that bolster a controversial alternative idea: The satellites formed as our own moon did, after a big object smashed into the planet and kicked up debris. Read more... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Socks Junior Posted May 20, 2015 #2 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Sure, mechanically it works out. But a lot of things work out mechanically. I would like some compositional data from the moons to really have some more certainty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie_Dwarf Posted May 20, 2015 Author #3 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I would like some compositional data from the moons to really have some more certainty. Which is exactly the point made by the article: All the scientists agree on how to resolve the controversy: Send a spacecraft to the moons. A moon-spawning collision should have vaporized water ice and hydrogen, leaving the satellites with none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Socks Junior Posted May 20, 2015 #4 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Which is exactly the point made by the article: Nice. I'm glad I'm in agreement with scientists. Gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I did read the article, by the way. I was gratified to see that my initial reaction was shared by other researchers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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