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PAN:
Pan is the innermost of Saturn's
moons. It has an orbital of 133,583 km from Saturn and a diameter of 20
km. This moon was discovered by Mark R. Showalter in 1990 by pictures
taken from the Voyager. Pan was discovered by reexamining the 10 year
old Voyager photos at the predicted spot. Pan is located in the Encke
division in Saturn's A ring. With careful analysis of the patterns in
the edge of Saturn's ring, Showalter was able to predict the size and
location of the small moon.
ATLAS:
Atlas is the second of Saturn's known moons. It
has an orbit of 137,670 km from Saturn and a diameter of 30 km. Atlas
was a Titan condemned by Zeus to support the heavens upon his shoulders.
He was also the son of Iapetus and the Clymene and the brother of
Prometheus and Epimetheus. It was discovered by R. Terrile in 1980
through various images taken by the Voyager. Atlas is a shepherd
satellite of the A ring.
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PROMETHEUS:
Prometheus is the third of Saturn's known
satellites. It has an orbit of 139,350 km from Saturn and a diameter of
91 km. It also has a mass of 2.7e17 kg. Prometheus was the son of
Iapetus and the brother of Atlas and Epimetheus. Prometheus is Greek for
foresight. It was discovered by S. Collins and others in 1980 from
Voyager photos. Prometheus is the inner shepherd satellite
of the F
ring. It has a number of ridges and valleys and several craters about 20
km in diameter but appears to be less cratered than its neighboring
moons. From their very low densities and relatively high albedos, it
seems likely that Prometheus, Pandora, Janus and Epimetheus are very
porous icy bodies.
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PANDORA:
Pandora is the fourth of Saturn's
known satellites. It has an orbit of 141,700 km from Saturn and a
diameter of 84 km. Its mass is 2.2e17 kg. Pandora, in Greek mythology,
was the first woman, and wife of Epimetheus. The moon was discovered by
Collins and others in 1980 by pictures taken by the Voyager. Pandora is
the outer shepherd satellite of the F ring. Pandora has at least two
large craters that are 30 km in diameter, and is even more cratered than
Prometheus. It has no linear ridges or valleys.
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EPIMETHEUS:
Epimetheus is the fifth of
Saturn's known moons. It has an orbit of 151,422 km and a diameter of
115 km. The mass is also known, at 5.6e17 kg. Epimetheus was the son of
Iapetus and brother of Prometheus and Atlas, as well as the husband of
Pandora. Epimetheus is Greek for hindsight. Epimetheus was first
observed by Walker in 1966. Epimetheus and Janus are coorbital. It has
several craters larger than 30 km in diameter as well as both large and
small ridges and grooves. The cratering indicates that Epimetheus must
be fairly old.
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JANUS:
Janus is the the sixth satellite of
Saturn. It has an orbital of 151,472 km from Saturn and a diameter of
178 km. The mass of this moon is 2.01e18 kg. It was discovered by a
French astronomer, Audouin Dollfus, in 1966. Janus and Epimetheus are
known as co-orbital. The difference between the orbital radii of Janus
and Epimetheus differ by only 50 km. The orbital velocities are almost
the same and the lower, faster one overtakes the other. Upon approaching
each other, they exchange momentum and the lower one is able to go into
a higher orbit, and exchange places. The trading of places only occurs
once every four years. Janus is highly cratered. It has many larger than
30 km.
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