page_title: Deimos (moon)
section_title: Physical characteristics
hierarchical_section_title: Deimos (moon) / Physical characteristics
caption_attribution_description: English: Original image caption: High-resolution view of Mars's moon Deimos from 30 km This is one of the highest-resolution images ever taken from an orbiting or flyby spacecraft. This Viking 2 orbiter image shows the surface of Mars's moon Deimos from a distance of 30 km. The image covers an area of 1.2 km by 1.5 km and features as small as 3 meters across can be seen. Note that many of the craters are covered over by a layer of regolith estimated to be about 50 meters thick. Large blocks, 10 to 30 meters across, are also visible. North is at 11:30.
context_page_description: Deimos is the smaller and outermost of the two natural satellites of Mars, the other being Phobos. Deimos has a mean radius of 6.2 km and takes 30.3 hours to orbit Mars. Deimos is 23,460 km from Mars, much further than Mars's other moon, Phobos. It is named for Deimos, who in Greek mythology is the twin brother of Phobos, and personifies terror.
context_section_description: Deimos, like Mars' other moon, Phobos, has spectra, albedos, and densities similar to those of a C- or D-type asteroid. Like most bodies of its size, Deimos is highly non-spherical with triaxial dimensions of 15 × 12.2 × 11 km, making it 56% of the size of Phobos. Deimos is composed of rock rich in carbonaceous material, much like C-type asteroids and carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. It is cratered, but the surface is noticeably smoother than that of Phobos, caused by the partial filling of craters with regolith. The regolith is highly porous and has a radar-estimated density of only 1.471 g/cm³.
  Escape velocity from Deimos is 5.6 m/s. The apparent magnitude of Deimos is 12.45.
caption: The surface of Deimos from 30 km (Viking, 1977)[19]
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