Pandora (moon)

Pandora

Discovery
Discovered by	Voyager 1
Discovered in	1980
Orbital characteristics
Semimajor axis	141,700 km
Eccentricity	0.0042
Revolution period	15h 5m
Inclination	0°
Is a satellite of	Saturn
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	83 km
Mass	1.94×1017 kg
Mean density	0.6 g/cm3
Surface gravity	0.008 m/s2
Rotation period	unknown
Axial tilt	0°
Albedo	0.6
Atmosphere	none

Pandora ("pan DOR uh") is a moon of Saturn. It was discovered in 1980 from Voyager photos, and was designated 1980 S 26. In 1985 it was officially named after Pandora from Greek mythology. There is also an asteroid called 55 Pandora.

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 km in diameter but shows no linear ridges or valleys.

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, and so this remains to be confirmed.