![]() ![]() The regular satellites are traditionally named after Titans and Titanesses or other figures associated with the mythological Saturn. The remaining regular moons orbit near the outer edge of the dense A Ring, within the diffuse G Ring, and between the major moons Mimas and Enceladus. The relatively large Hyperion is locked in an orbital resonance with Titan. Two other known regular satellites orbit within gaps in Saturn's rings. They include the seven major satellites, four small moons that exist in a trojan orbit with larger moons, two mutually co-orbital moons, and two moons that act as shepherds of Saturn's narrow F Ring. Of the known moons, 24 are regular satellites they have prograde orbits not greatly inclined to Saturn's equatorial plane. Iapetus has contrasting black and white hemispheres as well as an extensive ridge of equatorial mountains among the tallest in the solar system. Enceladus emits jets of ice from its south-polar region and is covered in a deep layer of snow. Titan is the second- largest moon in the Solar System (after Jupiter's Ganymede), with a nitrogen-rich Earth-like atmosphere and a landscape featuring river networks and hydrocarbon lakes. Seven Saturnian moons are large enough to have collapsed into a relaxed, ellipsoidal shape, though only one or two of those, Titan and possibly Rhea, are currently in hydrostatic equilibrium. This number does not include the many thousands of moonlets embedded within its dense rings, nor hundreds of possible kilometer-sized distant moons that were seen through telescopes but not recaptured. There are 146 moons with confirmed orbits. The moons of Saturn are numerous and diverse, ranging from tiny moonlets only tens of meters across to the enormous Titan, which is larger than the planet Mercury. Shown in the image are Dione, Enceladus, Epimetheus, Prometheus, Mimas, Rhea, Janus, Tethys and Titan. Even the basic mass and size data are not very accurate.An annotated picture of Saturn's many moons captured by the Cassini spacecraft. We know next to nothing about these moons.What role do these moons play with respect to the rings?.Terrile in 1980 from Voyager photos.Ītlas seems to be a shepherd satellite of the A ring. 1990 NASA press release about the discovery of PanĪtlas is the second of Saturn’s known satellites: orbit: 137,670 km from SaturnĪtlas was a Titan condemned by Zeus to support the heavens upon his shoulders son of Iapetus and the nymph Clymene brother of Prometheus and Epimetheus.ĭiscovered by R.It is possible that there are more moons within Saturn’s rings yet to be discovered. Pan was discovered by reexamining the 10 year old Voyager photos at the predicted spot. Prior to the discovery of Pan, an analysis of the patterns in the edge of Saturn’s A ring predicted the size and location of a small moon. Small moons near the rings produce wave patterns in the rings. Pan is within the Encke Division in Saturn’s A ring. Showalter in 1990 from Voyager photos taken in 1981 reconfirmed by images from Cassini in 2005. Pan was the god of woods, fields, and flocks, having a human torso and head with a goat’s legs, horns, and ears.ĭiscovered by Mark R. ![]() Pan is the innermost of Saturn’s known satellites: orbit: 133,583 km from Saturn ![]()
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