Observations from the March 10 flyby show that Deimos is made of the same materials as Mars itself, according to results presented at a meeting of the European Geosciences Union. This suggests that the Moon formed at the same time as Mars and was not a captured asteroid, as some theories suggest.

deimos

These observations revealed an unprecedented perspective of Mars and Deimos.

Mars was in the background. Honestly, it was great.
– said Hessa Al-Matroushi, head of the mission from the Space Center named after Mohammed bin Rashid in Dubai in an interview with Nature.com.

Deimos, one of the moons of Mars / Photo by Emirates Mars Mission

Humanity has been exploring Mars for decades, but our probes mostly held close to the surface of the Red Planet. Deimos always looks at the planet from one side, so probes near Mars have also seen only one side of the small moon. But now scientists have “Hope” in their arsenal.

Images taken during Hope’s first flight of Deimos showed the tiny object at a range of wavelengths, from ultraviolet to infrared. The width of the satellite is only 12.4 kilometers. Manhattan is about half the length of New York. Deimos appeared relatively similar at different wavelengths, suggesting that the asteroids are composed of Mars-like material rather than the usual carbon-rich material.

If it were carbon or organics we would see peaks at certain wavelengths,
– Says Al-Matroushi.

Scientists generally thought of Deimos as a possessed asteroid. Instead, it looks like a piece of Mars, perhaps shattered in an ancient collision. Earth’s moon is thought to have formed from a similar collision billions of years ago. Perhaps this gives our planet another feature in common with its rocky red neighbor.