'Space potato' spotted by NASA Mars satellite is actually something much cooler

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Ben Turner is a U.K. based staff writer at Live Science. He covers physics and astronomy, among other topics like tech and climate change. He graduated from University College London with a degree in particle physics before training as a journalist.

NASA has captured a stunning new photo of a"space potato" — but it is actually Phobos, the Martian moon that is locked on a slow collision course with the Red Planet.

Phobos, named after the Greek god of fear, is roughly 157 times smaller than Earth's moon and is one of Mars' two natural satellites, alongside the even smaller Deimos, whose name comes from the Greek god of dread. Related: Hundreds of black 'spiders' spotted in mysterious 'Inca City' on Mars in new satellite photos—1st-ever close-up photo of Mars' moon Deimos reveals the Red Planet's violent pastThe two moons' orbits are unstable, and scientists predict that in tens of millions of years Deimos will spin out into space while Phobos will either break up into a ring or slam into the Martian surface.

 

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