Newly surfaced images of the Martian moon Deimos made quite the findings after determining that the moon originates from Mars itself, another step forward in resolving the long-term dispute over the nature of its formation.
The Al Amal (Hope) probe of the UAE's Martian mission obtained an incredible image of Deimos, the smallest and most distant moon of Mars. The apparatus was able to fly around the satellite and approach it at a distance of 100 kilometers.
In the shot, Mars is half in shadow and visible in the background. Deimos is mostly gray, resembling a potato, with a few clearly visible craters.
Astronomers decided to take full advantage of this convergence, using all instruments available to them - ultraviolet and infrared spectrometers along with an imaging device. The opportunity allowed officials to capture incredible details of the moon's properties, including information about its composition and morphology.
"These images and observations represent a significant step forward in our knowledge of Deimos, its atmosphere, composition, origins, and what this means for our understanding of Mars more broadly," the UAE Space Agency said in a statement.
The origin of Deimos (and the other small Martian moon Phobos) has been a mystery since their discovery in 1877. Numerous spacecraft have photographed Deimos but always from a distance of more than 100 kilometers. Thus, it was difficult to determine the composition of the moon.
The space probe was launched on a Japanese rocket in July 2020 and arrived at Mars in February 2021. Its main goal is to study seasonal variations in the planet's atmosphere and weather conditions.
Data from recent images showed that the prevailing theory - until recently - that Deimos was an asteroid slowed down by Mars' orbit was incorrect. Scientists now believe Deimos was once part of Mars, but at some point, for some unknown reason, it broke away.