A single asteroid impact may explain the appearance of Mars' moon Deimos
Deimos, the smaller and outermost of Mars' two moons, is roughly oval in shape and has a deep depression at its south pole. Unlike its heavily scarred sister moon, Phobos, Deimos is covered by a loose layer of dust and rubble—a so-called regolith layer—which gives it a smoother, dustier appearance. Although numerous space probes have provided increasingly detailed images of its surface over the…
Deimos, the smaller and outermost of Mars' two moons, features a deep depression at its south pole and a regolith layer covering its surface. Scientists have now proposed that a single asteroid impact may explain the moon's unique appearance. Using computer simulations, researchers found that a 320-meter asteroid striking Deimos at a 45-degree angle caused the depression and created a thin layer of regolith across the moon's surface.
The impact didn't destroy the moon but instead redistributed material globally, leaving Deimos with a porous internal structure and weak upper layers. The study, published in Nature Astronomy, provides valuable insights for future missions, such as JAXA's Martian Moons eXploration (MMX), which aims to explore Deimos and its counterpart, Phobos.
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