Prometheus (moon)
| |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Voyager 1 |
| Discovered in | 1980 |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Semimajor axis | km |
| Eccentricity | 0.0024 |
| Orbital period | 14 h 42 min 42 s |
| Inclination | 0 ° |
| Is a satellite of | Saturn |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mean diameter | 100.2 km |
| Surface area | km2 |
| Mass | 17 kilogram>kg |
| Mean density | 0.63 g/cm3 |
| Surface gravity | m/s2 |
| Rotation period | unknown |
| Axial tilt | 0° |
| Albedo | 0.6 |
| Atmosphere | none |
Prometheus is a moon of Saturn. It was discovered in 1980 from Voyager photos, and was designated 1980 S 27. In 1985 it was officially named after Prometheus of Greek mythology.
Prometheus acts as a shepherd satellite for the inner edge of Saturn's F ring.
This small moon is extremely elongated about 148 by 100 by 68 km.
It has several ridges and valleys and a number of craters about 20 km are visible, but it is less cratered than nearby Pandora, Epimetheus and Janus.
From its very low density and relatively high albedo, it seems likely that Prometheus is a very porous icy body. There is a lot of uncertainty in these values, however, and so this remains to be confirmed.
See also