A long-lost moon could explain Mars’ weird shape and extreme terrain

A long-lost moon could explain why Mars is so different from the other rocky planets in the Solar System. Today Mars has two tiny moons. But early in its history, the Red Planet may have had a much larger moon, which might be responsible for Mars’ weird shape and extreme terrain, Michael Efroimsky, an astronomer at the US Naval Observatory in Washington DC, proposes in a paper that has been submitted to the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets and is available as a preprint via arXiv. Mars hosts some of the most extreme terrain in the Solar System, including the largest canyon, the tallest mountain and the greatest highland region. This highland region, known as the Tharsis bulge or Tharsis rise, dominates Mars’ western hemisphere near its equator. The Tharsis…

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All About Space (Digital) - 1 Issue, No. 161

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