Phobos and Deimos in fiction Phobos and Deimos in fiction Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Due to their small size, both moons were discovered only in 1877, by astronomer Asaph Hall. Nevertheless, they frequently feature in works of science fiction. Some of the earliest mentions of Mars's moons in fiction predate their discovery. In Jonathan Swift's famous satire "Gulliver's Travels" (1726), the astronomers of flying island Laputa are described as having discovered two satellites of Mars. Voltaire's short story "Micromégas" (1752), about alien visitors from Sirius and Saturn, also describes Mars as having two moons. Voltaire is thought to have been influenced by
Small Solar System body Small Solar System body A small Solar System body (SSSB) is an object in the Solar System that is neither a planet, a dwarf planet, nor a natural satellite. The term was first defined in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) as follows: "All other objects, except satellites, orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as 'Small Solar System Bodies' ". This encompasses all comets and all minor planets other than those that are dwarf planets. Thus SSSBs are: the classical asteroids, with the exception of the dwarf planet Ceres; the trojans; and the centaurs and trans-Neptunian objects,