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Image of the Day - 16

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Phobos / in Mars Orbit / The Solar System

Since their late discovery in 1877 Mars’ two small moons Phobos (fear) and Deimos (terror) have been a mystery. They are likely to be captured asteroids, but their low circular orbits clash with this explanation. In the 1950’s estimates were made that Phobos must have an unusually low density and must be hollow. This led to suggestions that it might have been artificially hollowed out and intentionally placed in Mars orbit as a space station. It was not believed that natural hollow space within Phobos could have resisted being crushed by the moon’s gravity over the eons. Gravitational sensing by modern space probes finds that Phobos is between 25% and 40% hollow. Whether the hollow space within Phobos exists as millions of tiny cavities – or as artificial rooms and tunnels is an interesting speculation. The whole surface of Phobos is corrugated with parallel furrows and ridges. On some parts of the surface these ridges and furrows run at right angles creating grids that are reminiscent of the roads and foundations of flattened city-scapes. Phobos even has a “2001: A Space Odyssey” style monolith. Lunar astronaut “Buzz” Aldrin has had a lot of mischievous fun regaling people about its existence. For more analysis and speculation click this "stargate" µµµ

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