Venus May Have Devoured Its Moon

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 00:26:01 +0000

Venus has nearly the same mass, size, and structure as Earth, which has led astronomers to believe it should have a moon, but it doesn’t. It is technically possible that a moon never formed, but scientists have also come up with several scenarios to describe how Venus could have lost its satellite. One previously presented hypothesis is that Venus’ moon was destroyed by a collision with some massive celestial body. But a recent study by researchers at the University of California, Riverside, suggests a different course of events. It posits that instead of being obliterated by some catastrophic external force, the moon was slowly pulled in by Venus’ gravity and plodding rotation until it fragmented and was completely swallowed.

Venus on Ask Sendai

Venus May Have Devoured Its Moon