Library Index :: United States Space Exploration Program :: Mars - Early Telescopic Views Of Mars, Giovanni Schiaparelli, Asaph Hall, Percival Lowell, Inhabited Or Not?

Mars - Asaph Hall

In August 1877, the American astronomer Asaph Hall (1829–1907) discovered that Mars has two moons. Centuries before him, Johannes Kepler guessed that Mars had two moons, but this had never been verified.

Hall reported that the moons were very small and orbited close to the planet's surface. This had made them impossible to see before. Hall made the discovery using a powerful new telescope recently installed at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. He named the moons Phobos (meaning fear) and Deimos (meaning flight or panic). These are two characters mentioned in ancient Greek myth as being servants to the god Mars.

User Comments Add a comment…