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Deimos orbits Mars at a distance slightly further away than the distance of a synchronous orbit. For that reason, Deimos rises in the east and sets in the west of the Martian sky, about 2.7 days after its rising.<ref name=planetsoc>"[http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/mars/deimos.html Entry for Deimos]." The Planetary Society. Accessed February 12, 2008.</ref>
Deimos orbits Mars at a distance slightly further away than the distance of a synchronous orbit. For that reason, Deimos rises in the east and sets in the west of the Martian sky, about 2.7 days after its rising.<ref name=planetsoc>"[http://www.planetary.org/explore/topics/mars/deimos.html Entry for Deimos]." The Planetary Society. Accessed February 12, 2008.</ref>
Deimos is not round, but is shaped like a [[potato]], with dimensions 15 x 12.2 x 11 km. Its largest surface feature is a 2.3 km diameter crater.<ref name=planetsoc/> Deimos is heavily cratered but has a smooth-appearing surface. Its surface gravity is very weak, perhaps too week to retain the ejecta from a crater impact. This ejecta is likely retained around Mars in a ring and redeposited as regolith on the surface of Deimos as it passes.<ref name=nasa2>"[http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/facts/deimos.html Mars: Extreme Planet: Deimos]." Mars Exploration Program, [[NASA]]. Accessed February 12, 2008.</ref>
Deimos is not round, but is shaped like a [[potato]], with dimensions 15 x 12.2 x 11 km. Its largest surface feature is a 2.3 km diameter crater.<ref name=planetsoc/> Deimos is heavily cratered but has a smooth-appearing surface. Its surface gravity is very weak, perhaps too week to retain the ejecta from a crater impact. This ejecta is likely retained around Mars in a ring and redeposited as regolith on the surface of Deimos as it passes.<ref name=nasa2>"[http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/facts/deimos.html Mars: Extreme Planet: Deimos]." Mars Exploration Program, [[NASA]]. Accessed February 12, 2008.</ref>
Deimos' orbit is so little inclined with respect to the [[ecliptic]] that it makes daily transits across the [[Sun]].<ref name=planetsoc/> These transits are not, strictly speaking, ''eclipses'' because Deimos does no more than cast a shadow over the Sun as it passes between the Sun and Mars.
Deimos' orbit is so little inclined with respect to the [[ecliptic]] that it makes daily transits across the [[Sun]].<ref name=planetsoc/> These transits are not, strictly speaking, ''eclipses'' because Deimos does no more than cast a shadow over the Sun as it passes between the Sun and Mars.