HN Explorer

5 comments

[ 4.7 ms ] story [ 56.8 ms ] thread
CLGrimes
It would make sense that Phobos, like Earth's moon, was the result of an impacting object versus a captured asteroid. I would think that captured objects, such as D-class asteroids would eventually have an orbit degrade over the course of a few millennia.
saagarjha
Well, Phobos is predicted to spiral in within 50 million years or so.
remote_phone
Wouldn’t an impact that large have destabilized Mars’s orbit?
Zardoz84
Earth had a bigger impact that result on the creation of the Moon, and we are here.
remote_phone
That’s never been substantiated beyond a theory. The same question would exist for that theory as well.