Mars to Get Its Own Ring Soon; How? [Photos]

Mars is predicted to have its own ring soon, as a result of its largest moon breaking up. Experts from UC Berkeley recently shared their insights on the possible phenomenon.

Fox News reported that Phobos, Mars’ biggest moon, will breakup eventually and divided into pieces before reaching the planet. Tidal forces will eventually pull Phobos apart as it moves closer to Mars. The happening would create a ring of debris around Mars, similar to the case of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Experts do not have information on the interior structure of Phobos. After Phobos is gone, only Deimos will be left.

Co-author Benjamin Black explained that the moon of Earth is slowly moving away from the planet at a few centimeters every year. Phobos, on the contrary, is getting near Mars at a few centimeters every year. The effect will be either the moon crashing into Mars or breaking apart. There is only one other moon in the solar system known to be heading closer to its planet – Triton, Neptune’s biggest moon, based on the same Fox News report.

“If the moon broke apart at 1.2 Mars radii, about 680 kilometers above the surface, it would form a really narrow ring comparable in density to that of Saturn’s most massive rings.” said Tushar Mittal, co-author of a paper published in Science Daily. He added that after some time, the debris would spread out and become wider, heading to the peak of the Martian atmosphere in a few million years, before beginning to lose material as debris constantly rains down on the planet.

It is still uncertain whether the ring would be visible from Earth, since dust does not reflect a lot of sunlight, compared to ice in the rings of other planets. These might seem like shadows when observed via a telescope from Earth.

However, people today will not be able to see the ring, because the entire process will take around 20 to 40 million years. Based on the process that resulted to the creation of Mars, there are past theories suggesting that other moons might have suffered the same fate.

The experts plan to get more information regarding Phobos to determine how moons that evolve inward impact their planets. They specifically wish to study the impact craters on Mars, as well as Phobos itself.

More updates and details about Phobos and Mars are expected in the coming weeks.