Mars. God of war in Roman mythology. And the Red Planet.
Our Earth's neighbor, revolving around the Sun in its fourth orbit. Perhaps, after our planet, its natural satellite and star, Mars is the most famous body in the solar system.
The Red Planet has always attracted human attention. Even the ancients, raising their eyes to the night sky, peered at small dots and thought: what if someone from there is looking at us in the same way? Before Mars was explored in sufficient detail, humanity inhabited its red expanses with amazing civilizations that were both similar to us and incredibly alien to us.
At the beginning of the last century, the fourth planet from the Sun probably attracted the greatest attention of writers. Science fiction writers populated it with a variety of creatures that they pitted their earthling heroes against. The mystery of Mars dominated the minds of many writers of the early 20th century. It is enough to remember Alexei Nikolaevich Tolstoy and his “Aelita” to understand that even the most prominent figures of the literary process were subject to the magic of the Red Planet.
The Palp era gave us many different Mars: large science fiction cycles about this planet were written by such writers as Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Bradbury, Leigh Brackett... The fourth planet and its population were, on the one hand, each with their own, special, and on the other hand, somewhat similar. Mars was old and mysterious, the civilizations that developed in its vastness also turned out to be old and mysterious. Often, by the time humanity became acquainted with the Red Planet, they either degraded and went into the most secluded corners or even underground, or all that remained of them were only memories and strange artifacts... What a freedom for horror under such and such conditions, it’s not true is it?
Well, some authors also thought so, and therefore their fourth planet from the Sun was similar to the satellites of Mars - Phobos and Deimos. Twilight, secrets and dangers lurking around literally every turn - this was the new world discovered by earthlings. Authors such as Catherine Moore and Clark Ashton Smith, prominent representatives of American pulp fiction, painted similar pictures in their stories.
Phobos of Mars: The Adventures of Northwest Smith
Catherine Moore's debut story was praised by Lovecraft and was included in the anthology of the best horror of the 20th century according to John Pillan. The novella “Shamblo” was published in November 1933 in Weird Tales magazine and became the first adventure of Northwest Smith, one of the two most important characters in the writer’s work. The main character saves a girl from a crowd that is ready to tear her to pieces. Why would this be? And why, in fact, do people keep shouting and shouting: “Shamblo! Shamblo!”, Northwest had no time to think when he saved her, but soon he still had to find out the answers to these questions...
The story was certainly a success. And Catherine Moore continued to talk about the adventures of her brave space tramp Northwest. In total, the cycle about him consists of thirteen works, but not all of them directly relate to “dark” matters. For example, the story “Dust of the Gods” is a completely ordinary space opera about the search for an artifact, “The Red Dream” refers to the world of dreams, and “The Tree of Life” refers to other worlds, and this theme is revealed in a fantasy vein... But “Cold Gray” God" is quite capable of pleasing Lovecraft fans. Northwest Smith, as often happened to him, meets a girl who asks him for a favor. And, again, as usual, the task seems easier than ever: we need to get an ivory box kept in the house of one of the Martians. But the question is: what is inside the box and why is it so valuable?..
In the short story “Julhi” the hero talks about the origin of one of his many scars (a beautiful woman is to blame for this), in “Nymph of Gloom” he reveals the secret of the forbidden cult of Darkness (and a charming stranger is to blame for this incident), in “Ival” together with his friend Yarol goes to Jupiter in search of... who do you think? - that's right, amazing beauties that cannot be found anywhere else in the Universe! In general, there are a lot of women and fatal beauties in the series about Nordwest. Most of them only bring trouble to the hero. Differing from them is Jarel of Joiri, the second most famous character of Catherine Moore, with whom the author confronts Smith in the story “The Quest for the Star Stone.” This story no longer takes place on Mars.
By the way, in some other short stories there is not a word at all about the Red Planet - Northwest Smith is, after all, a space tramp, and it would be surprising if he sat in the same place all the time. Mysteries and horrors multiply not only on Mars: they can be found on Venus (“Black Thirst”, “Julhi”, “Nymph of Gloom”) and on Earth (“She-Wolf”). But if we compare all the fears experienced and overcome by Nordwest, one would like to assume that Mars is the most dangerous place. In any case, impressive adventures with Shamblo and the cold gray god happened on the Red Planet.
Catherine Moore's forte has always been description. Despite some similarity in the plots, you can quite enjoy reading the series about Northwest Smith. The prose flows softly, as if enveloping, immersing oneself, just like the fog in “The Cold Gray God” (oh, a little more, and there will be a spoiler). And these works are given a special flavor by the alien civilizations whose representatives the hero meets.
Deimos of Mars: neighbors of the aihai
If Catherine Moore populated Mars and other planets with often not entirely pleasant inhabitants, collisions with which, however, do not threaten too serious consequences, then Clark Ashton Smith went further. His Red Planet is a world of hopelessness. This is a kingdom, lifeless on the outside, but not on the inside, where the fate of a stranger who accidentally wanders here will be worse than death.
Clark Ashton Smith's series about Mars is often called "Aihai" - this is the name of the ancient civilization that grew up in the vastness of the fourth planet. But even before the Aihai, these strange red expanses were inhabited by other aborigines, about whom even today’s Martians know little, let alone the aliens. And every meeting with the secrets of the unknown world threatens with horror, which is eloquently confirmed by all the stories in the cycle.
In May 1932, Weird Tales published the novel The Crypts of Yoh-Wombis, which tells the story of the misadventures of archaeologist Rodney Severn. With the expedition of Allan Octave, he once reached the ruins left behind by the ancient Yorkh civilization, which flourished about forty thousand years ago. The incredible antiquity of the ruins of Yoch-Wombis could not inspire scientists with particularly alarming feelings so that they would abandon the idea of exploring them. And even the refusal of the Aihai guides to go further did not stop them... Therefore, Rodney Severn was able to talk in the first person about the results of the expedition when he returned from Yoh-Wombis. The skin of his forehead and head was quite badly damaged, and b O Most of the time under the supervision of a doctor he was overcome by feverish delirium. And then Severn left - as it turned out later, in the direction of Yoch-Wombis. The strange ruins of the old civilization did not release the last of their captives...
“Dweller of the Abyss” was published in another magazine, Wonder Stories, in March 1933, but in this text Smith developed the same topic: the ancient civilizations of Mars and earthlings. True, here, instead of archaeologists, attention is focused on the adventurers Chivers, Bellman and Maspika. Refusing the services of Aihai guides, they went to the Chaur desert. When a sandstorm hit, the friends hid from it in a cave, which, as it turned out, went underground. From somewhere came muffled sounds that sounded like rustling and smacking. Interested adventurers went down to explore the cave and, what the hell, maybe find someone there? Indeed, they soon discovered strange pale-skinned creatures - judging by their appearance, some kind of degraded, degenerate branch of the Aihai. The peculiarity of the individuals encountered by earthlings was that they did not have eyes in their sockets - it seems that they were removed. The pale natives seized Chivers, Bellman and Maspic and escorted them to a large cave, where the adventurers met Chalmers, another captive [ Chalmers was not in the original version of the story; Smith introduced this character at the insistence of the magazine editorWonderStories— approx. author]. It was he who told the newcomers that the eyeless were the remnants of the Martian Yorkh civilization, worshiping a certain Dweller of the Abyss. It was his idol that stood on the altar of these degraded creatures. Soon the ceremony of worshiping the deity began, and at this time, seeing that the Martians were not watching over their captives, three earthlings decided to escape. But getting to the surface will clearly not be easy...
The third story in the Aihai series is called “Valthum” and tells the story of a deity who came to Mars from another universe. He is already fed up with the fourth planet from the Sun and is planning an invasion of the third. And to carry out his plans, Valtum hires two earthlings, Bob Haynes and Paul Septimus Chanler. An alien god, whose periods of sleep are estimated at a thousand years, is ready for a new journey, but people are not happy with this. They are trying to find a way to stop Valtum, but it is not so easy to immediately understand the amazing underground economy of an unknown creature.
Clark Ashton Smith also managed to write a short fragment of “Mnemoka” about aihai, which remained unfinished. This text is about a Martian drug that can revive memories. Astronaut John receives this remedy from one of the Aihai - a man dreams of being with his beloved again, at least for a short time. The mood of the fragment differs from earlier works - if the first three stories were created in the 1930s, then “Mnemoka” dates back to the mid-1950s.
Clark Ashton Smith wrote his Mars in only three full-length stories, but this was enough to leave one of the most terrible images of the Red Planet in science fiction literature. “The Crypts of Yoh-Wombis” and “The Dweller of the Abyss” are undoubtedly among the most terrible masterpieces of the writer, and “Valthoom” pleasantly recalls other similar stories with other worlds and aliens from other universes, which came from the pen of the American magician. The modern aborigines of Mars, the Aihai, are quite harmless guys compared to the ancient civilizations with which the author constantly pits his heroes against. And the fate of these “lucky ones” is sometimes truly much worse than death.
We examined only two versions of the Red Planet in pulp fiction of the first half of the last century. In fact, there are many more different Mars, and most of them make a depressing impression. Take, for example, Leigh Brackett's poignant The Last Days of Shandacore, which tells the story of the decline of a wonderful old civilization. Or remember “He Who Waits” by Ray Bradbury - one of his most impressive stories on the theme of unfriendly and scary space.
So the conversation about the many faces of Mars is far from exhausted, but here we can paraphrase one wise proverb: it is better to read once than to hear a hundred times.
Phobos and Deimos are two moons of Mars discovered in 1877, but their origin is still controversial among scientists. There is an assumption that they are of asteroidal origin. Phobos's orbit is closer to Mars than Deimos' orbit, and it is also larger. In addition, Mars is the only planet among the four that has more than one satellite.
Story
Early speculation about the two moons stated that their actual orbital distances were 1.4 and 3.5 times the diameter of Mars for Phobos and Deimos, respectively. The discoverer of the two moons was Asaph Hall, who discovered them in 1877, Deimos on August 12 and Phobos on August 18. He deliberately searched for Martian moons, and on August 10, 1877, he saw something resembling a satellite, but was unable to identify it due to inclement weather.
In 1959, Walter Scott Huston stated that the moons of Mars are artificial objects. His claim sparked a spectacular Mars hoax scenario that captured the world's attention.
Study
Although there was no specific mission to explore the moons of Mars, there are many photographs taken by spacecraft during their approach to Phobos and Deimos. Some photos show the satellites from afar, others in more detail, and some spacecraft even took videos.
Below is a brief description of the main characteristics of the two moons of Mars.
Deimos
To an observer on Mars, Deimos appears as a bright planet or star and is slightly larger than the appearance of Venus seen from Earth. The average radius of the satellite is 6.2 km, and the distance to the center of Mars is: 23,455.5 km at the periapsis and 23,470.9 km at the apocenter. Deimos moves across the Martian sky from east to west (like the Moon on Earth). Its movement is very slow, and a full orbit around the red planet takes a little over 30 hours.
Phobos
The appearance of full Phobos can be seen from the Martian equator, as 1/3 of the full Moon on Earth. However, the satellite will appear smaller when observed far from the planet's equator and even invisible from Mars' polar ice caps. The average radius of Phobos is 11 km, and the distance to the center of Mars is: 9,234.42 km at the periapsis and 9,517.58 km at the apocenter. Phobos orbits at an average distance of 6,000 km from the surface of Mars, which is closer than any other known planetary satellite. It orbits the planet much faster than Mars orbits, completing its orbit in just 7 hours and 39 minutes. As for movement, Phobos moves in a west-east direction, unlike Deimos. Additionally, Phobos rises after every eleven hours, which is one hour less than the Moon rises on Earth. Thus, the nature of the movement of the satellite of Mars is very different from the movement of the Moon.
Phobos and Deimos are two satellites of the Red Planet that were discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877. These are very tiny satellites. The diameter of Phobos is 22 km, and Deimos is even smaller - about 13 km. Both satellites always face the same side towards Mars, since they rotate around their axis with the same period as around Mars.
Deimos and Phobos are very similar to each other. These are lifeless pieces of stone, most likely former. Flying near Mars, they were captured by the planet’s gravitational field and remained with it forever. But both satellites have too regular orbits, so some scientists are not sure of the correctness of the theory of the asteroid origin of Phobos and Deimos. They are inclined to assume that at first Mars had only one satellite, which was split into two (and possibly more) pieces by a meteorite impact.
Phobos satellite
Phobos is named after the ancient Greek god of fear Phobos - the son of the god of war Ares and the goddess of love Aphrodite. It rotates very quickly around Mars - three times faster than the planet itself rotates on its axis. During a Martian day, Phobos flies around three times.
As already mentioned, the satellite always faces the planet with one side. The forces of gravity have a great influence on Phobos, gradually slowing down the speed of its movement. Scientists believe that after 7.6 million years (according to other sources, after 11 million years), the satellite will collapse under the gravitational influence of Mars.
The entire surface of Phobos is dissected by craters and deep grooves. These grooves appear due to the fact that the force of gravity from Mars tears large rocks from the satellite, which “cut” the surface of Phobos and fall from it.
Generally speaking, the satellite has not yet been torn to shreds only because of its high strength, and also because its orbit is inside the Roche limit. The Roche limit is the radius of the satellite's orbit, rotating on which the tidal forces of the planet are equal to the self-gravitational forces of the satellite.
Deimos satellite
The satellite received its name in honor of the ancient Greek god of horror Deimos, one of the followers of the god of war Ares. Its orbit is further than that of Phobos, so it orbits Mars longer. It completes a full revolution around the planet in 5.3 Martian days (on Mars a day lasts 24.5 Earth hours) - 130 hours. Like Earth's Deimos, it appears in the east (if you observe it from the surface of Mars), and sets in the west. And it is also always facing the planet with the same side.
In the 20th century Deimos was believed to be the smallest moon in the entire solar system. Its dimensions are really small: 15x12x10 km. It is smoother than Phobos. The craters on its surface are covered with a large layer of dust. Scientists suggest that after a collision with a meteorite, a large amount of material broke off from the satellite, which remained in outer space for a long time. And every time Deimos passed through this “cloud” of dust, it collected it on its surface. Dust settling on the satellite hid the craters. Therefore, we see an almost smooth ball, but this, of course, is not so. Only two objects on Deimos have their own names - the large craters Voltaire and Swift. They are named after the famous writers who predicted the presence of satellites on Mars long before their official discovery in 1877.
Mars, Earth's red neighbor, is often the focus of astronomers' attention. Its close location makes it an achievable target for spaceflight and exploration. Today it is one of the most studied planets in the solar system.
For a long time, the satellites of the Red Planet remained hidden from view. According to stories, astronomer Asaph Hall, who tried in vain to discover them, wanted to give up everything, and continued his work only at the insistence of his wife. The very next night after resuming the search, he discovered the satellite of Mars, Deimos, and a few days later, Phobos.
Assumptions
As you know, the Red Planet is named after the Roman god of war. To match her, Phobos and Deimos, the satellites of Mars, received the names of his sons. “Fear” and “horror,” which is what the names of these cosmic bodies mean in translation, did not generate corresponding emotions among scientists. Rather, they caused confusion. The measurement results showed that the weight of the objects was too light despite their rather impressive dimensions. There was even an opinion that satellites were hollow inside, which means they were of artificial origin. Such assumptions were refuted after the first images of Phobos and Deimos from spacecraft appeared.
The smallest
Both satellites of Mars turned out to be rather small space objects. The images clearly show the slightly elongated ellipsoidal shape that is characteristic of them. The data obtained made it possible to assign the satellites of the Red Planet the title of the smallest similar objects in the entire solar system.
Phobos is a satellite of Mars, slightly exceeding its “brother” in its parameters. It is located closer to the planet. Both objects, like the Moon, always face Mars with the same side. They are extremely difficult to view from Earth; this can only be done with a powerful telescope. The reason for this state of affairs lies in the composition of the satellites: it is dominated by carbon mixed with ice. Deimos and Phobos reflect a very small percentage of light rays and, as a result, appear as very dim objects. This same composition, which greatly distinguishes the satellites from Mars, suggests that Phobos and Deimos were once asteroids captured over time by the Red Planet.
The closest satellite of the planet Mars
Phobos, as already mentioned, is the larger of the pair of “closers” of the Red Planet. The distance that separates it from Mars is estimated at 6 thousand kilometers, which makes it the closest satellite of all known today. This situation has certain consequences: Phobos is a satellite of Mars, which in about 50 million years will fall on the planet, or will be torn into pieces and turn into a ring of asteroids. This version of the fate of the cosmic body is supported by its gradual decline towards the surface of Mars. The distance between two objects decreases by 1.8 m every hundred years.
Phobos orbits Mars in 7 hours and 39 minutes. The speed allows the satellite to outpace the daily rotation of the Red Planet. As a result, Phobos moves for an observer on Mars, appearing over the horizon in the west and setting in the east.
Consequences of the collision
A characteristic feature of both satellites is their surface riddled with craters. The largest of them is located on Phobos, named after the wife of the discoverer of the satellites. The diameter of the Stickney crater is 10 km. For comparison: Phobos itself has dimensions of 26.8 × 22.4 × 18.4 km. Presumably, the crater was the result of a strong impact when a certain space object or collision fell onto the surface of Phobos.
Near the crater there are mysterious grooves or cracks. They are a system of parallel recesses. The furrows extend for 100-200 km at a depth of 10-20 km, the distance between neighboring ones reaches 30 km. The reason for their occurrence is not entirely clear. The version that is most consistent with all the data obtained is that the grooves were formed after material that exploded on the Red Planet fell onto the Martian satellite. Scientists, however, are in no hurry to call this hypothesis the only correct one: research continues.
Second son of the god of war
Deimos is a satellite of Mars with parameters of 15x12x11 km. It is located further than Phobos and makes one revolution around the Red Planet in just over 30 hours. Deimos is 23 thousand kilometers away from the center of Mars.
Scientists were able to see Deimos for the first time after receiving a photograph taken by the Viking 1 spacecraft in 1977. The image taken by its successor, called Viking 2, showed that the smaller moon of Mars also does not boast a smooth surface. True, unlike Phobos, it is not decorated with furrows, but with massive blocks, the sizes of which are estimated to range from 10 to 30 km.
Versions
Today there is no consensus on the origin of Deimos and Phobos. Most astronomers adhere to the point of view stated above that they were once asteroids. Existing data on their composition speaks in favor of this hypothesis: in this parameter, the satellites are related to asteroids associated with Jupiter. Presumably, the gas giant, with its gravitational force, influenced the orbits of two cosmic bodies in such a way that they approached Mars and were captured by it.
Some scientists, however, adhere to an alternative point of view. They talk about the contradiction of the existing hypothesis to the laws of physics and put forward their own theory. According to her, Phobos and Deimos were never classified as asteroids. They were parts of Mars' only moon, torn to pieces by the Red Planet's gravity. The most massive and largest part was pulled closer to the surface and was named Phobos, while the less impressive and lighter part began to circulate in a distant orbit and turned into Deimos. According to astronomers who adhere to this version, evidence for it can be obtained after a more detailed study of the composition of the soil on the two moons of Mars.
Astronomers' plans
The moons are a great place to observe Mars. Astronomers plan to organize something like a base on them, from which a more detailed map of Mars can be compiled with the help of robots. It is easier to obtain almost any information about the planet from a satellite. Of course, the greatest hopes in this sense rest on Deimos, which does not face such a sad fate as Phobos.
Both satellites orbiting the Red Planet have not yet told people everything about themselves, just like Mars itself. However, the relatively close location to Earth allows us to hope for the speedy satisfaction of scientists' curiosity. However, we cannot guarantee this with complete certainty: for every answer found, space is capable of offering a hundred more questions.
Mars is a rich planet and a rather strange one. She still hasn't answered many questions. And then there are these two moons: Phobos and Deimos. After all, these two cosmic bodies are not at all similar to our earthly Moon. Natural satellites are more like asteroids.
Both natural satellites are simply tiny. Phobos is only twenty-two kilometers, and Deimos is thirteen kilometers. Moreover, these sizes make them not just small moons, but also the tiniest formations in our system.
The composition is also somewhat unusual. Most of the satellite material is type I and type II carbonaceous chondrites. And their elongated shapes are not at all associated with ordinary moons of other planets. Moreover, even if you look from the surface of Mars, it is difficult to immediately understand that this is not a passing asteroid, but a satellite of the planet. Deimos, to be honest, due to its distance, looks like a star and is very similar to Earth's Venus. As for Phobos, it is located on the closest trajectory to its own planet compared to other moons. And yet, even under these conditions, it looks like only a third of the Moon.
Phobos is moving six thousand kilometers from its home planet. There are tons of debris on the surface of the satellite, which may have formed during the formation of Mars, when it was hit by many impacts from passing cosmic bodies. The speed of this moon is such that it crosses the same area of the sky above Mars every four hours. The passage of Phobos starts from the east and moves towards the west.
The distance from Mars to Deimos is more than twenty thousand kilometers. The passage of this moon takes thirty hours, which is slightly more than a Martian day.
Origin
Initially, scientists thought that these two bodies were actually born as asteroids. That is, thanks to the gravity of Jupiter, the future moons were pulled towards Mars, which captured them.
But the current position of the lunar orbits suggests that this theory contains many flaws. The satellites have stable orbits and move like obedient friends of their older brother. Captured space formations do not act this way, but continue to move chaotically. There is a possibility that the atmosphere could slow down the movement of the moons and even seat them in their current orbits. But the Martian atmosphere is too dark for this and, accordingly, weak.
But it can be assumed that Phobos and Deimos were originally formed as planets, but from the debris left after the formation of the mother planet. Gravity did the rest, creating such bizarre shapes.
Another theory suggests that the two moons may have a natural creation history similar to Earth's Moon. Indeed, during the formation of the early solar system, many collisions occurred, which could break off pieces from Mars.
According to researchers, the collisions scattered debris around the ring around Mars. And then the material gathered into moons. In addition, there are versions that Phobos, as it approaches the planet, will also be torn apart and scattered around the ring.
There is still a lot to learn about the planet itself and its moons, which no one knew about for a long time. And the answers will help expand knowledge about the formation of the entire solar system.