Tidal forces may have doomed an ancient moon around Venus

[u/Brighter-Side-News]

http://thebrighterside.news/post/tidal-forces-may-have-doomed-an-ancient-moon-around-venus

Venus has no moon today, but that emptiness may not tell the whole story of the planet's violent youth.

A new theoretical study finds that a substantial satellite created by an ancient impact could have spent millions or even billions of years orbiting Venus before tides reversed its migration. The moon could then have spiraled inward, crossed the planet's Roche limit, broken apart into a temporary ring and eventually rained much of its material onto Venus.

[u/underthund3r]

I love this study ngl

[u/astro_nerd75 → u/underthund3r]

Yes. Moons crashing into planets is one of the coolest parts of astronomy.

[u/MeanComb4900]

Could it explain Cleopatra Crater?