Deimos Moon Facts for Kids

A Picture of the Moon Deimos
  • Moon Name: Deimos
  • Other Names:: Mars II
  • Formed: Over 4 billion years ago
  • Discovered: August 12th, 1877 by Asaph Hall III
  • Distance from Mars: Between 14,574 miles (perigee) and 14,584 miles (apogee)
  • Time to Orbit Around Mars: About 1.26 Earth days
  • Total Surface Area: 307 square miles

16 Deimos Facts for Kids

  1. Deimos is one of the two natural satellites (moons) of the planet Mars.
  2. The name Deimos comes from Greek mythology. Deimos was the god of dread, the twin brother of Phobos and the son of Ares and Aphrodite.
  3. Deimos was discovered by Asaph Hall, III on August 12th, 1877.
  4. Deimos has no atmosphere due to its small size and lack of gravity.
  5. Deimos is around 8 miles across, making it one of the smallest moons in our Solar System.
  6. Deimos has a surface area of about 307 square miles.
  7. The mean radius of Deimos is 3.9 miles.
  8. Deimos is the smallest of the two moons that orbit Mars.
  9. The closest (perigee) Deimos’s orbit gets to Mars is 14,574 miles.
  10. The farthest (apogee) Deimos’s orbit gets from Mars is 14,584 miles.
  11. Deimos has the farthest orbit of the two moons that orbit Mars.
  12. Deimos takes around 30 Earth hours to orbit the planet Mars.
  13. Deimos’s orbit is getting longer as time passes, and it’s due to its distance from Mars.
  14. Deimos will eventually escape the orbit of Mars and become an asteroid.
  15. The largest crater on the surface of Deimos is Voltaire and it has a diameter of almost 1.2 miles.
  16. The first photograph of Deimos was taken in 1971, by the Mariner 9 spacecraft.

Additional Resources on the Moon Deimos

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