This is the Web Edition of "A Trip Into Space", a Coimbra-based electronic book on space science. Both the texts and the photos are by courtesy of National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
| This is the Web Edition of "A Trip Into Space", a Coimbra-based electronic book on space science. Both the texts and the photos are by courtesy of National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
|
A Trip Into Space  Saturn Satellites And Rings Saturn - Small Satellites |
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| See also: Saturnian Satellite Fact Sheet |   |
This composite shows seven of the very small satellites of Saturn as photographed Aug. 25 by Voyager 2. These irregularly shaped bodies have been highly cratered by the impact of cosmic debris. The irregularity is probably due to fracturing by large impacts and is sustained by the rigidity of the bodies. The lighting angles and ranges here are different for each satellite; thus, true relative sizes are not shown. These objects range from about 10 to several hundred kilometers across. Of note are the two F-ring shepherding satellites, first seen by Voyager 1. The following table corresponds to this composite photograph, with each satellite's standard numerical designation and name and Voyager 2's range when it took these frames: ___________________________________________________________________ 1980S6 1980S3 1980S25 Dione trojan Trailing Trailing Tethys co-orbital trojan
344,000 km. 350,000 km. 248,000 km. 213,000 mi. 217,000 mi. 154,000 mi. ___________________________________________________________________ 1980S1 1980S13 1980S26 1980S27 Leading Leading Tethys Outer F-ring Inner F-ring co-orbital trojan shepherd shepherd
366,000 km. 667,000 km. 409,000 km. 365,000 km. 227,000 mi. 414,000 mi. 254,000 mi. 226,000 mi. ___________________________________________________________________
The Voyager Project is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Last Update: 2004-Nov-27