It may not scare you to death, but this look at the
Martian moon Phobos - or Fear - is one of the most detailed observations of
the small satellite.
Phobos is the largest and innermost of Mars' two
moons. The lumpy satellite is about 11 miles (18 kilometers) in diameter at
its narrowest point and circles Mars once every eight hours.
This image was taken by the High Resolution
Stereo Camera aboard the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft
on Aug. 22, 2004, but released Nov. 11. It shows the Mars-facing side of
Phobos.
Mars Express flew
within 124 miles (200 kilometers) of Phobos to take this picture,
which has a resolution of about 22 feet (7 meters) per pixel and is
one of the highest-resolution views of the moon ever recorded. The scale at the
upper right is applicable only to the center of the image due to geometric
reasons.
-- SPACE.com Staff
Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/G.
Neukum
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