Mars possesses two mini moons where one is apparently on the brink of self-destruction. Phobos is estimated to break apart in 20 to 40 million years from now, where this debris will eventually form a ring around the Red Planet, similar to Saturn, according to scientists.

This new study is detailing a prediction of how this ring will continue to persist for millions of years, which will establish itself and become as distinct as Saturn's famous rings. According to researchers, Mars' Phobos ring will appear less shiny compared to Saturn's since it will be composed of rocky grains and pebbles as opposed to different sized particles of water ice.

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They also add that this new ring will appear to be thinner than usual, some less than 100 kilometers across, in comparison to Saturn's which are 100,000 kilometers wide. This Martian ring will also slowly spread out in the next 100 million years where it will disappear forever into deep space.

In this new study, researchers based these new findings on a geological model of the moon, where they estimate that Phobos which is only measured at 20 kilometers wide, is now gradually spinning downwards to the surface of Mars, according to Benjamin Black and Tushar Mittal from the University of California, Berkeley.

The reason why Phobos is spiralling down to Mars is due to stronger gravitational forces on the nearest side of Phobos than its farther side. On the other hand, our moon is tidally locked to Earth, however, it does not share the same orbit as Earth's, which means that the moon is moving away from Earth. 

Scientists also say that Phobos is made from weak materials, after it was created from rubble when a massive asteroid hit Mars, leading to the prediction that the moon is more likely to break up than crash into Mars.

This new study is published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Tagsmars ring saturn moon phobos, martian moon phobos, Mars' moon Phobos, mars saturn rings, mars moon phobos ring, mars ring, mars evolution, solar system