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Pandora
Discovery
Discovered by Collins, Voyager 1
Discovered in October, 1980
Orbital characteristics
Semimajor axis 141,520 km
Eccentricity 0.0042
Revolution period 0.6285 d [1]
Inclination 0.007 ° (to Saturn's equator)
Is a satellite of Saturn
Physical characteristics
Diameter 110×88×62 km
Surface area ~93,600 km2
Volume ~314,100 km3
Mass 1.94×1017 kg
Mean density 0.6 g/cm3
Surface gravity 0.008 m/s2
Escape velocity ~0.025 km/s
Rotation period synchronous
Axial tilt zero
Albedo 0.6
Surface temp.
min mean max
K ~78 K K
Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa

Pandora (pan-dor'-a, Greek Πανδώρα) is a moon of Saturn. It was discovered in 1980 from Voyager photos, and was designated 1980 S 26. In 1985 it was officially named after Pandora from Greek mythology. It is also designated as Saturn XVII.


Pandora floating above the rings of Saturn as seen from the Cassini probe in 2005

Pandora is the outer shepherd satellite of the F Ring. It is more heavily cratered than nearby Prometheus, and has at least two large craters 30 km in diameter but shows no linear ridges or valleys.

From its very low density and relatively high albedo, it seems likely that Pandora is a very porous icy body. There is a lot of uncertainty in these values, however, so this remains to be confirmed.

There is also an asteroid called 55 Pandora.

Links

The Planetary Society: Pandora






... | S/2004 S 3 | Pandora | Janus, Epimetheus | ...



Saturn's natural satellites


Pan | Daphnis | Atlas | Prometheus | S/2004 S 6 | S/2004 S 4 | S/2004 S 3 | Pandora | Epimetheus and Janus | Mimas | Methone | Pallene | Enceladus | Telesto, Tethys, and Calypso | Polydeuces, Dione, and Helene | Rhea | Titan | Hyperion | Iapetus | Kiviuq | Ijiraq | Phoebe | Paaliaq | Skathi | Albiorix | S/2004 S 11 | Erriapo | Siarnaq | S/2004 S 13 | Tarvos | Mundilfari | S/2004 S 17 | Narvi | S/2004 S 15 | S/2004 S 10 | Suttungr | S/2004 S 12 | S/2004 S 18 | S/2004 S 9 | S/2004 S 14 | S/2004 S 7 | Thrymr | S/2004 S 16 | Ymir | S/2004 S 8

see also: Rings of Saturn | Cassini-Huygens | Themis

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