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The innermost large moons of Saturn orbit within its tenuous E Ring, along with three smaller moons of the Alkyonides group. Mimas is the smallest and least massive of the inner round moons, [ 44 ] although its mass is sufficient to alter the orbit of Methone . [ 52 ]
Discovered in 1655 by the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens, Titan was the first known moon of Saturn and the sixth known planetary satellite (after Earth's moon and the four Galilean moons of Jupiter). Titan orbits Saturn at 20 Saturn radii or 1,200,000 km above Saturn's apparent surface. From Titan's surface, Saturn subtends an arc of 5.09 ...
Enceladus is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn and the 18th-largest in the Solar System. It is about 500 kilometers (310 miles) in diameter, [5] about a tenth of that of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. It is mostly covered by fresh, clean ice, making it one of the most reflective bodies of the Solar System.
The sizes and masses of many of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn are fairly well known due to numerous observations and interactions of the Galileo and Cassini orbiters; however, many of the moons with a radius less than ~100 km, such as Jupiter's Himalia, have far less certain masses. [5]
The retrograde moons are grouped into the Carme, Ananke and Pasiphae groups. Saturn has 146 moons with known orbits; 66 of them have received permanent designations, and 63 have been named. Most of them are quite small. Seven moons are large enough to be in hydrostatic equilibrium, including Titan, the second
The new discovery increases the moons orbiting the "jewel of our solar system" to 82, surpassing Jupiter
Iapetus (/ aɪ ˈ æ p ə t ə s /) is the outermost of Saturn's large moons. With an estimated diameter of 1,469 km (913 mi), it is the third-largest moon of Saturn and the eleventh-largest in the Solar System. [a] Named after the Titan Iapetus, the moon was discovered in 1671 by Giovanni Domenico Cassini.
The disappearing “magic islands” on Saturn’s largest moon Titan have intrigued scientists since NASA’s Cassini mission spotted them during flybys a decade ago. Now, researchers believe ...