Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2020 October 30
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                      Fear and Dread: The Moons of Mars
          Composite Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Dennis Simmons

   Explanation: On Halloween [5]fear and [6]dread will stalk your night
   skies, also known as [7]Phobos and [8]Deimos the moons of Mars. [9]The
   2020 opposition of Mars was on October 13, so the Red Planet will still
   rise shortly after sunset. Near Halloween's Full Moon on the sky, its
   strange yellowish glow will outshine other stars throughout the night.
   But the two tiny Martian moons are very faint and in close orbits,
   making them hard to spot, even with a small telescope. You can find
   them in this carefully annotated composite view though. The overexposed
   planet's glare is reduced and orbital paths for inner moon Phobos and
   outer moon Deimos are overlayed on digitally combined images captured
   on October 6. The diminutive moons [10]of Mars were discovered in
   August of 1877 by astronomer Asaph Hall at the US Naval Observatory
   using the [11]Great Equatorial 26-inch Alvan Clark refractor
   .

                    Tomorrow's picture: galaxy of horrors
     __________________________________________________________________

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    Authors & editors: [23]Robert Nemiroff ([24]MTU) & [25]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([26]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [27]Specific rights apply.
              [28]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [29]ASD at [30]NASA / [31]GSFC
                           & [32]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2010/PhobosDeimosOrbitTimesAnnotatedcopy.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. mailto:%20nardes%20[at]%20optusnet%20[dot]%20com
   5. https://www.greekmythology.com/Other_Gods/Phobos/phobos.html
   6. https://www.greekmythology.com/Other_Gods/Deimos/deimos.html
   7. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/mars-moons/phobos/in-depth/
   8. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/mars-moons/deimos/in-depth/
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201006.html
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gods_of_Mars
  11. https://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/about-us/usnos-telescopes/the-26-inch-refractor
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201029.html
  13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  16. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  21. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=201030
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201031.html
  23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  26. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  28. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  29. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  30. https://www.nasa.gov/
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  32. http://www.mtu.edu/