Long ago, something struck Phobos and almost shattered the tiny
moon. The scar of that impact, 9km-wide Stickney crater, is located
at the top of the image. Color filters in MRO's camera reveal a
blue
splash of material around Stickney's rim. What is it? No one
knows. Equally striking are Phobos' many long grooves and crater
chains. Although these seem to radiate from Stickney, recent studies
show that most are
not related to the crater. Instead they
come from the planet below; when asteroids hit Mars, debris flies
up and scores Phobos. The grooves seem to emerge from Stickney only
because the crater faces Mars.