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We are all familiar with our one Moon but other planets have different numbers of moons; Mercury has none, Jupiter has 95 and Mars has two. A new paper proposes that Mars may actually have had a third larger moon. Why? The red planet has a triaxial shape which means it bulges just like Earth does but along a third axis. The paper suggests a massive moon could have distorted Mars into this shape.  Celestial bodies that orbit planets or dwarf planets are known as moons. They vary significantly in size from just a few kilometres to several thousand kilometres. Earth’s Moon (notice capital ‘M’) is the moon everyone is familiar with but there are many fascinating moons in the outer Solar System from the largest moon Ganymede to the icy ocean world Europa or Titan with its methane lakes. Even Mars has two moons; Phobos and Deimos. Phobos and Deimos, photographed here by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, are tiny, irregularly-shaped moons that are probably strays from the main asteroid belt. Credit: NASA – See more at: http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2013/07/05/rovers-capture-loony-moons-and-blue-sunsets-on-mars/#sthash.eMDpTVPT.dpuf In a paper published by Michael Efroimsky from the US Naval Observatory in Washington the shape of Mars is explored with a view to assessing the liklihood of a third moon of Mars. Efroimsky explains that the triaxial nature of Mars is noticeable through the equatorial ellipticity which is produced by the Tharsis Rise. Another less noticeable bulge is located almost opposite to the Tharsis rise and is in the Syrtis Major Planum region. Olympus Mons, Tharsis Bulge trio of volcanoes and Valles Marineris from ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission. Note the clouds and south polar ice cap. Credit: ISRO The paper proposes the peculiar bulge shape of Mars has been caused by two different elements. The initial shape was caused by a massive moon in orbit around the young and pliable Mars. It was in a synchronous or captured orbit so the same face of Mars was always pointing toward the moon. Under the constant tug of gravity, a triaxial ellipsoid shape evolved. A triaxial ellipsoid is shaped like a rugby ball but the three axes are of different lengths. The longest axis was aligned to the Moon while the others were forged by other tidal effects.  The second element of the development of the shape of Mars relates to the convection processes under its surface. After the triaxial ellipsoid shape developed, the tidally raised regions became more prone to uplift driven by convection, tectonic and volcanic activity. The activity slowly enhanced the triaxial ellipticity seen today.  Efroimsky demonstrates that a moon of less than a third of the mass of the Moon, in a synchronous orbit around Mars was capable of creating the initial triaxiality (this is my new favourite word!) The research also put showed that the asymmetry of the equator was significant if the synchronous moon existed while Mars still have magma oceans, and was weaker if the moon showed up at the solidification stage. In order for the second element to be evidenced, further research is required. However Efroimsky believes the tidal deformations could very easily oscillate and generate heat. A moon in an elliptical but synchronous orbit would appear to oscillate east/west around the same region of sky. This would enhance the tidal deformation and internal heating of the system giving credence to Efroimsky’s theory that Mars did indeed once have a third larger moon.  Source : A synchronous moon as a possible cause of Mars’ initial triaxiality The post Did Mars Once Have a Third, Larger Moon? appeared first on Universe Today.

Peanuts! Get your peanuts here! The Solar System has been passing out peanuts lately in the form of two different oddly shaped asteroids that recently passed by Earth, and both look like over-sized peanuts. The latest peanut-shaped asteroid pass was on September 16, 2024, when the near-Earth asteroid 2024 ON came within 1 million kilometers (62,000 miles) of Earth (2.6 times the Earth-Moon distance). Radar imaging revealed the asteroid was peanut-shaped because it is actually a contact binary – which means it is made of two smaller objects touching each other. NASA says the two rounded lobes are separated by a pronounced neck, and one lobe about 50% larger than the other. In total, 2024 ON measures about 350 meters (382 yards) long. The radar could resolve features down to about 3.75 meters across on the surface, including brighter boulders. NASA says about 14% of asteroids in this size range (larger than about 200 meters (660 feet)) are contact binaries. It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a… peanut? ?This nutty asteroid is about as long as the Eiffel Tower is tall. It was imaged by our Goldstone radar as it safely passed Earth at a distance of 2.8M miles (4.6M km). https://t.co/66hy0ehsPe(P.S. it's #NationalPeanutDay!) pic.twitter.com/WlxoIFx2IM— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) September 13, 2024 Just last month, on August 18-19, 2024, the other “peanut” passed by our planet. Asteroid 2024 JV33 appears to also be a contact binary with two rounded lobes, one lobe larger than the other, and is about 300 meters (980 feet) long, about as long as the Eiffel Tower. Imagery showed that asteroid 2024 JV33 rotates once every seven hours. It safely passed Earth a little further than 2024 ON, at a distance of 4.6 million km (2.8 million miles), about 12 times the distance between the Moon and Earth. Both asteroids were captured in a series of radar images obtained by the Deep Space Network’s Goldstone Solar System Radar near Barstow, California. The principal technique for studying asteroids is radar – called planetary radar. While astronomers can study the Universe by capturing light from stars, planets, and galaxies, they can also study nearby objects by shining radio light on them and analyzing the signals that echo back. Planetary radar can reveal incredibly detailed information about our planetary neighbors. “When astronomers are studying light that is being made by a star, or galaxy, they’re trying to figure out its properties,” said Patrick Taylor, radar division head for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, in an interview I did with him earlier this year. “But with radar, we already know what the properties of the signals are, and we leverage that to figure out the properties of whatever we bounced the signals off of. That allows us to characterize planetary bodies – like their shape, speed, and trajectory. That’s especially important for hazardous objects that might stray too close to Earth.” An animation of the radar images showing the rotation of asteroid 2024 ON. Credit: NASA/JPL. 2024 ON was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) on Mauna Loa in Hawaii on July 27. The asteroid was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey in Tucson, Arizona, on May 4. NASA labels objects larger than 492 feet that come within 4.6 million miles of Earth “potentially hazardous objects,” so scientists are monitoring 2024 JV33 for potential danger even though they don’t expect the asteroid to pose a threat in the future. The post NASA Watches a Peanut-Shaped Asteroid Drift Past Earth appeared first on Universe Today.