Two moons of Mars formed by the breakup of an asteroid, study says

Mass, gravitational field, and formation processes make gas planets more likely to have more than one moon (Jupiter has 95 moons and Saturn has 83). Rocky planets such as Earth and Mars, which have less mass and therefore weaker gravitational fields, acquire their moons through various processes, such as collisions in the early stages of their formation.

Here on Earth, we are almost certain that the formation of our Moon was the result of a collision between our planet and a Mars-sized protoplanet called Theia about 4.5 billion years ago, when the Solar System was still in existence. . What about the planet Mars? How were the moons Deimos and Phobos formed?

A recent NASA study published in the journal Icarus used a series of supercomputer simulations of rocks on Mars missing (for now) and found: An asteroid passing near the red planet may have been torn apart by gravity and eventually formed two natural satellites of Mars.

Scenarios of the emergence of Phobos and Deimos

To test this new hypothetical chain of events, the researchers worked with an open-source, high-performance computing code called SWIFT and computing systems at Durham University in the United Kingdom. They evaluated hundreds of simulations of the initial impact with one code, and debris trajectories with another code.

Of all the resulting scenarios, two stood out. The first suggests that Mars’ moons were originally asteroids, which were completely captured by Mars’ gravity. This hypothesis can be proven by the irregular and non-spherical shapes of Phobos and Deimos, similar to asteroids.

Similar to Earth’s, the second hypothesis proposes that a massive impact on the planet’s surface brought together materials from Mars and the impactor in a single explosion, creating a large disk that would later form two moons.

What does the new theory say about the formation of Mars’ moons?

The third possibility suggested in the current study suggests that an asteroid passed so close to Mars that it was eventually captured by tidal force (the difference in gravitational acceleration between two points of the same body) and ripped apart. This force exerted by the planet was so intense that may have deformed or shattered the asteroidIt is a phenomenon known as the Roche limit.

Overcoming the forces of internal cohesion due to the tide on Mars, the asteroid “elongated” and broke into pieces. In this simulation, the resulting fragments were unable to escape the force of gravity and formed a debris disk orbiting Mars; These came together over time and formed the satellites we call Phobos and Deimos today.

In addition to providing a third way to explain the emergence of moons on Mars, the simulations can also be adapted to explain other cases of interaction between planets and smaller bodies throughout the history of the Solar System.

Stay up to date with the latest astronomical studies and discoveries at TecMundo. If you wish, take the opportunity to learn the details of NASA’s Mars landing mission, planned for the 2030s.