{
  "id": 1456730,
  "title": "A moon for Mars! Asaph Hall finds Phobos 149 years ago",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/a-moon-for-mars-asaph-hall-finds-phobos-149-years-ago",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-17T09:00:03.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "EarthSky",
    "slug": "earthsky",
    "url": "https://earthsky.org/space/this-date-in-science-asaph-hall-discovers-a-moon-for-mars/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On August 17, 1877, American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered the first known moon of Mars. The larger of Mars' two moons, Phobos, has a mean diameter of about 14 miles (22.5 km). However, despite its size, Phobos has very weak gravity, which prevents it from assuming a spherical shape like Earth's moon. Phobos' oblong surface is marked by many small craters and a large one, named Stickney after Asaph Hall's wife, Angeline Stickney. Stickney resembles a giant hole on one end of Phobos, potentially indicating that the moon narrowly escaped destruction when it was formed.",
  "summary": "On this date in 1877, astronomer Asaph Hall discovered a moon for Mars: Phobos, the larger of 2 moons. He discovered the other moon, Deimos, later that year. The post A moon for Mars! Asaph Hall finds Phobos 149 years ago first appeared on EarthSky .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}