Prometheus (moon)
moon of Saturn
Prometheus is an inner satellite of Saturn. It was discovered on 24 October 1980 from images taken by the Voyager 1 probe, and was provisionally designated S/1980 S 27. In late 1985 it was officially named after Prometheus, a Titan in Greek mythology. It is also designated Saturn XVI.
Prometheus is extremely elongated, measuring approximately 137 km × 81 km × 56 km (85 mi × 50 mi × 35 mi). The surface is heavily cratered, giving it a similar appearance to nearby Epimetheus and Janus. It has several ridges and valleys and a number of impact craters of about 20 km (12 mi) diameter are visible. From its very low density and relatively high albedo, it is likely that Prometheus is a very porous icy body.
Interactions with F Ring and other moons
Prometheus is a shepherd satellite for the inner edge of Saturn's narrow F Ring. Pandora orbits just outside the F Ring, and has traditionally been viewed as an outer shepherd of the ring; however, recent studies indicate that only Prometheus contributes to the confinement of the ring.
Images from the Cassini probe show that Prometheus's gravitational influence creates kinks and knots in the F Ring as it shepherds material from it.
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This entry incorporates text from “Prometheus (moon)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.