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I thought moons & planets always appear generally round from a distance. This lumpy irregularly-shaped Phobos looks like an asteroid.

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deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Both Mars’ moons (Phobos and Deimos) are asteroids. They’re really small.

“Hydrostatic equilibrium” is the term (I think) for when a body is massive enough for it’s gravity to pull it into a spheroid. E.g. Ceres is about 950km in diameter and is ‘round’.

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- zaphod@sopuli.xyz ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  Both Mars’ moons (Phobos and Deimos) are asteroids. They’re really small.
  
  And another W for earth, get fucked mars. Is he even trying?
  
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- JennaR8r@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Hmm today I learned that asteroids can also be moons! Was it just floating around freely like any other asteroid until it got caught into the orbit of Mars, then got stuck there forever?
  
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  - deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Probably. It does happen.
    
    Fun fact. Triton, Neptune’s largest moon, orbits the wrong way which means it was gravitationally captured by Neptune at some point.
    
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sharkfucker420@lemmy.ml ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Some moons are just like that. Don’t body shame them

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