It's the striations - the ripples or banding - that's impressive. I think they represent shockwaves from the Stickney impact (the big crater at the end) shattering but not dispersing the entire body of Phobos. That, or some weird fluid or plastic phase during the impact.
The moon's actually in a far worse state but then, it would be: it survives bigger impacts. Whatever created the Tycho Crater on the moon, with its strange 'rays' would have vaporised a body the size of Phobos.
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Date: 2004-11-12 09:11 am (UTC)The moon's actually in a far worse state but then, it would be: it survives bigger impacts. Whatever created the Tycho Crater on the moon, with its strange 'rays' would have vaporised a body the size of Phobos.