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Astronomy and space

Astronomy and space

Resolving the ‘squoon’, and other irregular satellites

22 Dec 2020
Taken from the December 2020 issue of Physics World.

In this article (originally published in Lateral Thoughts, Physics World’s regular column of humorous and offbeat essays, puzzles, crosswords, quizzes and comics, which appears on the back page of the print edition) Nicholas Porter looks into the physics of wonky satellites, both fictional and real

Phobos
Phobos is the best known irregular satellite in our solar system, but it isn't a squoon. (ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G Neukum), CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)
Children’s author Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler are probably best known for their

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Nicholas Porter is a teacher of physics and applied science at New College Bradford, UK. He has a research background in condensed-matter physics, specializing in nanoscale magnetism, nicholasandrewporter@hotmail.com
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