 |
|||||||
| 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. |
|
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| 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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