Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2024 September 7
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                              Small Moon Deimos
        Image Credit: [3]HiRISE, [4]MRO, [5]LPL (U. Arizona), [6]NASA

   Explanation: Mars has two tiny moons, Phobos and [7]Deimos, named for
   the figures in Greek mythology Fear and Panic. Detailed surface views
   of smaller moon Deimos are shown in both these panels. The [8]images
   were taken in 2009, by the HiRISE camera on board the [9]Mars
   Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, NASA's long-lived [10]interplanetary
   internet satellite. The outermost of the two Martian moons, Deimos is
   one of the smallest known moons in the Solar System, measuring only
   about 15 kilometers across. Both Martian moons were discovered in 1877
   by [11]Asaph Hall, an American astronomer working at the US Naval
   Observatory in Washington D.C. But their existence was postulated
   around 1610 by [12]Johannes Kepler, the astronomer who derived the laws
   of planetary motion. In this case, Kepler's prediction was not based on
   scientific principles, but his writings and ideas were so influential
   that the two Martian moons are discussed in works of fiction such as
   [13]Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, written in 1726, over 150
   years before their discovery.

                 Tomorrow's picture: large galaxy Andromeda
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    Authors & editors: [25]Robert Nemiroff ([26]MTU) & [27]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([28]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [29]Specific rights apply.
              [30]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [31]ASD at [32]NASA / [33]GSFC,
                         [34]NASA Science Activation
                           & [35]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2409/PIA11826.jpg
   3. https://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/
   4. https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/
   5. https://www.lpl.arizona.edu/
   6. https://www.nasa.gov/
   7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deimos_(moon)
   8. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11826
   9. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Reconnaissance_Orbiter
  10. https://science.nasa.gov/planetary-science/programs/mars-exploration/mars-relay-network-interplanetary-internet/
  11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asaph_Hall
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap180515.html
  13. http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/swift/bio.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240906.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  18. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  23. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240907
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240908.html
  25. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  28. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  31. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  34. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  35. http://www.mtu.edu/