Phobos Deimos?

Question

What cause the nonspherical shape of these moons?

Answer 1

They aren't massive enough (I think the larger one is less than 20 miles across) to have the gravitational pull needed to pull itself into a spherical shape. They're likely captured asteroids from the belt in between Jupiter & Mars.

Answer 2

Quantum's right. "real" moons are formed from the accretion disk that their host planet forms from during the formation of the solar system. As soon as enough 'stuff' clumps together to form gravity, it starts drawing more 'stuff' to it until a planetary body is formed. That's why planets are round. they formed from gravity compression while spinning.

But Phobos and Deimos ("fear" and "terror") are just rocks that flew too close Mars and were captured by it's gravity.

Fun Fact: Deimos rotates so close to Mars it's actually inside it's outer atmosphere.

Answer 3

round is an interesting shape. it can be formed by surface tension (in the case of raindrops) or gravity.

In order for a less than planetary mass to assume a spherical shape, it would be necessary to be molten... not impossible, but hardly likely. Planetary masses assume a spherical shape on their own (in fact it is one of the conditions of being let into the "Planet Club")

Most of the smaller pieces are just that... pieces. Remnants of collisions, explosions, wayward phaser blasts... irregular shapes rule.

Phobos and Deimos are both captured asteroids. Not sure how, but Mars is pretty close to the Solar System's "Back 40" of asteroid junkyard.

Answer 4

They are to small to have enough gravity to force them into a spere,, I just read in the link below this morning that they are believed to be captured Kuperbelt objects,

here are very recent photos of the two moons,

see the below link,,

http://www.universetoday.com/2007/11/27/new-images-of-the-martian-moons-phobo...

Answer 5

Most likely they are captured asteriods from early in the development of the solar system.
Also I heard that they were at one time on single moon then a major impact smashed them apart.. But I do not know if that is true or not.

Answer 6

They're simply lost astroids from our astroid belt that were trapped in an orbit around Mars. As far as the shape? Probably formed from the explosion when Minerva (The planet that exploded that created the astroid belt) core cooled- they were shaped that way

Answer 7

Their small size and mass. That makes gravity too weak to smash them into spherical shapes.

Answer 8

definite, those 2 are the Gods of shock/terror, etc. they are additionally the names of the two moons of the planet Mars. yet that aside... i'm uncertain the place God is meant to have been afraid (interior the Bible) on some activities. definite, he admitted to different Gods latest. i'm uncertain that God could be in concern of different Gods. in line with possibility aggravated with them, yet petrified of them? No.