Pandora (moon)
- There is also an asteroid called 55 Pandora.
 Pandora, as imaged by Cassini | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Collins, Voyager 1 |
| Discovery date | October, 1980 |
| Orbital characteristics[1] | |
| Epoch December 31, 2003 (JD 2453005.5) | |
| 141,720 ± 10 km | |
| Eccentricity | 0.0042 |
| 0.628504213 d | |
| Inclination | 0.050 ± 0.004° to Saturn's equator |
| Satellite of | Saturn |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Dimensions | 103×80×64 km[2] |
| 40.3 ± 2.2 km[2] | |
| ~21,000 km² | |
| Volume | ~270,000 km³ |
| Mass | 1.356 ± 0.022 ×1017 kg[1] |
Mean density | 0.49 ± 0.08 g/cm³ |
| 0.0034 m/s2 | |
| ~0.019 km/s | |
| synchronous | |
| zero | |
| Albedo | 0.6 |
| Temperature | ~78 K |
Pandora (Template:PronEng pan-DOHR-ə, or as in Greek Πανδώρα) is an inner satellite of Saturn. It was discovered in 1980 from photos taken by the Voyager 1 probe, and was provisionally designated S/1980 S 26.[3] In late 1985 it was officially named after Pandora from Greek mythology.[4] It is also designated as Saturn XVII.[5]
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.[6]
The orbit of Pandora appears to be chaotic, as a consequence of a mean motion resonance with Prometheus. The most appreciable changes in their orbits occur approximately every 6.2 years,[1] when the periapsis of Pandora lines up with the apoapsis of Prometheus and the moons approach to within about 1,400 km. Pandora also has a 3:2 mean-motion resonance with Mimas.[1]
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.
The 2009 movie Avatar takes place on a fictive moon called Pandora allegedly located in the Alpha Centauri star system[7].
Gallery
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Voyager 2 image of Pandora. -
Pandora as seen from the Cassini probe in 2005; the rings of Saturn are in the background.
References
- ^ a b c d Spitale, J. N.; et al. (2006). "The orbits of Saturn's small satellites derived from combined historic and Cassini imaging observations". The Astronomical Journal. 132 (2): 692–710. doi:10.1086/505206.
{{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|author=(help) - ^ a b Porco, C. C.; et al. (2006). "Physical Characteristics and Possible Accretionary Origins for Saturn's Small Satellites" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 37: 768.
{{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in:|author=(help) - ^ IAUC 3532: Satellites of Saturn October 31, 1980 (discovery)
- ^ IAUC 4157: Satellites of Saturn and Pluto January 3, 1986 (naming the moon)
- ^ "Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS Astrogeology. July 21, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
- ^ NASA JPL Solar System Exploration: Saturn: Moons: Pandora
- ^ http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Pandora