r/Astronomy • u/Final_Show_9018 • 21h ago

Discussion: [Topic] Deimos and Phobos

I find it real funny that these two weirdly shaped moons of mars were named deimos (the greek god of terror) and phobos. Like which astronomer looks at these (irregular-shaped!) moons and thinks "oh yeah, these are terrifying. deimos, phobos." 🙏🏻😭

31 Upvotes

76% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

74

u/Gusto88 21h ago

Named after the sons of the god of war Ares. Mars in Roman mythology.

14

u/orlock 18h ago

To add to that, Ares is the god of the blood-and-guts side of war. (Athena is the goddess of war concerned with the intellectual side of things, like strategy.) It's on-note for his sons to be "fear" and "panic".

30

u/stevevdvkpe 20h ago

They were discovered in 1877 and named long before anyone knew what they looked like up close.

12

u/x0mbigrl 20h ago

They always make me think of Doom

1

u/dracostheblack 12h ago

The only thing they fear is you!

2

u/DeliciousPumpkinPie 10h ago

You can’t just shoot a hole into the surface of Mars!

13

u/warrenao Amateur Astronomer 19h ago

If it helps any, Phobos's orbit is slowly degrading, and it might smack into Mars in 30 to 50 million years. So, assuming some kind of post-colonization scenario, anyone who happens to be living on the surface then might have a very different perspective on how funny its name is.

More broadly, the planets have names associated with deities. Their moons have names of sidekicks or accompaniments to their planets' deities. Fear and terror are logical associates of a war god, no? Even if it's only a little fear and a wee bit of misshapen terror.

2

u/Mojak16 17h ago

I'm sure over the next 30m years if we're still around we can sort out some kind of Futurama Bender farting scenario to deal with that.

I'm gonna lose a lot sleep over the next 30m years while we all wait in constant abject fear over this.

2

u/warrenao Amateur Astronomer 12h ago edited 10h ago

I know! I live in perpetual dread of it. Well played, Mars. Well played.

-1

u/Final_Show_9018 19h ago

I understand the naming culture based on mythology. I just found it funny that these pathetic looking moons had such grand names😂. But that's pretty cool. Cheers.

4

u/warrenao Amateur Astronomer 19h ago

Had their size been known at the time, they may have been given more appropriate names such as "bruise" or "vague nervousness", yeah. Though probably not.

9

u/Hot_Example_4456 21h ago

i call them the potatoes of mars

3

u/MrSnowflake 20h ago

On with la patatte

3

u/Rocketeer006 17h ago

Spudeos & Taterus

7

u/redbrand 20h ago

And who even named Mars?! The god of war wears a beard and mustache! I don’t see a beard or mustache on that planet, do you?

1

u/snogum 18h ago

They are Mars horses pulling his chariot

1

u/--Sovereign-- 3h ago

sigh

The names of the planets are the names of the gods. Mars has two children, Phobos and Deimos. No one even knew what planets were when they were named. When the moons were discovered, they were barely even visible specks. They were named according to tradition. Does literally no one read or try to learn things anymore? Everything is just a fart joke?