Saturn's Moons


Pan (Saturn XVIII)
Pan is the innermost of Saturn's known satellites.

Orbit:133,583 km from Saturn
Diameter:20 km
Mass: ?
Discovered by:Mark R. Showalter in 1990 from Voyager photos.

Pan is within the Encke Division in Saturn's A ring. Small moons near the rings produce wave patterns in the rings. Prior to the discovery of Pan, an analysis of the patterns in the edge of Saturn's A ring predicted the size and location of a small moon. Pan was discovered by reexamining the 10 year old Voyager photos at the predicted spot. It is possible that there are more moons within Saturn's rings yet to be discovered.

Atlas (Saturn XV)
Atlas is the second of Saturn's known satellites.

Orbit:137,670 km from Saturn
Diameter:30 km (40 x 20)
Mass: ?
Discovered by:R. Terrile in 1980 from Voyager photos.

Atlas seems to be a shepherd satellite of the A ring.

  • Difficulties:-
    1-What role do these moons play with respect to the rings?
    2-We know next to nothing about these moons. Even the basic mass and size data are not very accurate.
    3-Are Pan and Atlas similar to Prometheus in bulk properties?

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    Last Modified : 5 Sep. 2001
    Created By#C0115361 Team