Viking Orbiter 1 photograph of Deimos,the smaller of the two moons of Mars. Deimos orbits Mars every 1.26 days at a distance of some 23,500 km. It is ellipsoid in shape & measures approximately 11x12x15 km. The larger craters visible here are up to 1.3 km in diameter. Like the larger Martian moon,Phobos,Deimos reflects only a few percent of the sunlight that strikes it. Its spectrum suggests a composition similar to that of bodies in the outer asteroid belt,& one theory is that both Phobos & Deimos were originally asteroid-like bodies near Jupiter,which perturbed their orbits & allowed their capture by Mars. The photograph was taken in 1977 | |
Licence : | Droits gérés |
Crédit: | Science Photo Library / NASA |
Taille de l’image : | 4665 px × 3231 px |
Model Release : | Non requis |
Property Release : | Non requis |
Restrictions : | - |