The 19th and early 20th century American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered Mars' small moons, Phobos and Deimos. Observations of the moons' orbits allowed others to calculate the Red Planet's gravity, which is just under half that of Earth's.
Asaph Hall III (October 15, 1829 – November 22, 1907) was an American astronomer who is most famous for having discovered the moons of Mars, Deimos and Phobos, in 1877. He determined the orbits of satellites of other planets and of double stars, the rotation of Saturn, and the mass of Mars.
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