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Pandora, as imaged by Cassini
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Discovery
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| Discovered by | Collins, Voyager 1 |
| Discovery date | October, 1980 |
| Epoch December 31, 2003 (JD 2453005.5) | |
| Semi-major axis | 141,720 ± 10 km |
| Eccentricity | 0.0042 |
| Orbital period | 0.628504213 d |
| Inclination | 0.050 ± 0.004° to Saturn's equator |
| Satellite of | Saturn |
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Physical characteristics
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| Dimensions | 104×81×64 km [2] |
| Mean radius | 40.7 ± 1.5 km [2] |
| Volume | ~280,000 km³ |
| Mass | 1.371 ± 0.019 ×1017 kg [2] |
| Mean density | 0.49 ± 0.06 g/cm³ [2] |
| Equatorial surface gravity | 0.0026–0.0060 m/s² [2] |
| Escape velocity | ~0.019 km/s |
| Rotation period | synchronous |
| Axial tilt | zero |
| Albedo | 0.6 |
| Temperature | ~78 K |
Pandora ( /pænˈdɔərə/ pan-dohr-ə; Greek: Πανδώρα) is an inner satellite of Saturn. It was discovered in 1980 from photos taken by the Voyager 1 probe, and was provisionally designated S/1980 S 26.[3] In late 1985 it was officially named after Pandora from Greek mythology.[4] It is also designated as Saturn XVII.[5]
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 kilometres (19 mi) in diameter.[6]
The orbit of Pandora appears to be chaotic, as a consequence of a series of four 118:121 mean motion resonances with Prometheus.[7] The most appreciable changes in their orbits occur approximately every 6.2 years,[1] when the periapsis of Pandora lines up with the apoapsis of Prometheus and the moons approach to within about 1,400 kilometres (870 mi). Pandora also has a 3:2 mean-motion resonance with Mimas.[1]
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.
Citations
Sources
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