Gulliver's Travels or satellites, which revolve about Mars". This may have influenced Voltaire, whose 1750 story "Micromégas" also refers to two moons of Mars. In 1877, Asaph Hall discovered the two real moons of Mars, Deimos and Phobos; in 1973 craters on Deimos were named Swift and Voltaire, and from 2006 numerous features on Phobos were named after elements from "Gulliver's Travels", including Laputa Regio, Lagado Planitia, and several craters. The term "Lilliputian" has entered many languages as an adjective meaning "small and delicate". There is even a brand of small cigar called Lilliput. There is a series of collectable model houses
Transit of Phobos from Mars transit of Phobos from Mars usually lasts only thirty seconds or so, due to the moon's very rapid orbital period of about 7.6 hours. Because Phobos orbits close to Mars and in line with its equator, transits of Phobos occur somewhere on Mars on most days of the Martian year. Its orbital inclination is 1.08°, so the latitude of its shadow projected onto the Martian surface shows a seasonal variation, moving from 70.4°S to 70.4°N and back again over the course of a Martian year. Phobos is so close to Mars that it is not visible south of 70.4°S or