The moon of Mars is not long for the universe.
The potato-shaped satellite is close to its host planet. Phobos will be torn apart by the interaction between the two bodies within 100 million years.
A new study says that the interactions may be having an effect. At least some of the mysterious, parallel shallow grooves that cover the moon's entire surface could be the result of fracturing as it decays.
Bin Cheng is an astronomer at Tsinghua University in China and the University of Arizona.
The tidal forces that pull on bodies in a system are the result of their interaction with each other.
The effect on a solid surface is usually small. In places where tidal forces can be easily observed in the movements of our planet's liquid oceans, visible effects on the mass of land are less obvious.
The consequences of tidal forces between other solid bodies can be seen. Stress fracturing can be caused by stretching caused by tides. This has been seen in the moon Enceladus, which has a deep, parallelFracture at its south pole.
It takes just 7 hours and 39 minutes for Phobos to get close to Mars. It is possible that tidal forces could cause surface fracturing on its 27 kilometer wide body. The idea that Phobos' stripes are the result of an interaction has been thought of before.
It's not clear if the current configuration of Phobos and Mars can produce the striping observed. The stripes could be the result of boulders.
Cheng and his colleagues used 3D mathematical modeling to examine the stretching and squeezing of a Phobos-like body with a loose rubbly exterior.
Hundreds of simulations were performed by the researchers. The cohesive layer split and fractured in parallel grooves when tidal forces caused the upper loose regolith to drain into the cracks below. The surface is very similar to regions on Phobos.
The model was not consistent in some areas. The grooves around the moon's equator were not in line with predictions. The results show that some of the stripes could be caused by fracturing as the moon spirals towards death. This means that the end is near for Phobos.
The results could have implications for the study of other moons that are experiencing orbital decay. A region of study for the upcoming Mars moon mission by the Japanese Space Agency could be exposed by the draining rubble.
It is expected that this mission will deliver conclusive evidence of the origin of these stripes.
The researchers wrote that they found that the tidal strain could create parallel fissures with regular spacing.
Some of the grooves lining the surface of Phobos are likely early signs of the demise of the satellite.
Anyone else have a mashed potato?
The research has appeared in a journal.
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