Deimos [DEE-mos] (panic) is a moon of Mars and was named after an attendant of the Roman war god Mars. Deimos is a dark body that appears to be composed of C-type surface materials. It is similar to the C-type (blackish carbonaceous chondrite) asteroids that exist in the outer asteroid belt. Some scientists speculate that Deimos and Phobos (the other martian moon), are captured asteroids; however, other scientists present arguments counter to this theory. Both Deimos and Phobos are saturated with craters. Deimos has a smoother appearance caused by partial filling of some of its craters.

Animations of Deimos

• High-Resolution Animation of Deimos. (Courtesy A.Tayfun Oner)
• Deimos Shape Model in Rotation. (Courtesy A.Tayfun Oner)

Views of Deimos

Mosaic of Deimos
Measuring 16 by 12 km (10 by 7.5 mi) Deimos circles Mars every 30 hours. Craters of varying age dot its surface, which is somewhat smoother than the surface of Phobos. (Courtesy NASA/JPL)

Deimos
This image was taken by the Viking Orbiter spacecraft in 1977. (Courtesy NSSDC/NASA)

Deimos
This image shows a slightly different view of Deimos. It was acquired by the Viking Orbiter spacecraft. (Credit: Calvin J. Hamilton)

Topographic Map of Deimos
This is a topographic map of Deimos. It is based upon the shape model of Phil Stooke. As with all maps, it is the cartographer's interpretation; not all features are necessarily certain given the limited data available. This interpretation stretches the data as far as possible. (Courtesy A. Tayfun Oner)

Map of Deimos
This image is a photomosaic of Deimos, the outer satellite of Mars. The leading side faces forwards in the orbit of Deimos. The trailing side faces backwards along the orbit. Longitude 0 is at the blunter end with the most prominent craters, and faces Mars. As with all conformal (true shape) projections, the scale in these maps varies, increasing from the centre to the outer edge. (Courtesy Phil Stooke, NSSDC, and NASA)

Mars Phobos

Copyright © 1997 by Calvin J. Hamilton. All rights reserved.