This is an image of Rhea.
Click on image for full size
NASA/JPL
Saturn's Moons and Rings
The gas giant planet Saturn has a large group of
moons. It also has the largest, most complex, and best-known ring
system in our Solar System.
Saturn's moon Titan is one of the
few moons in the Solar System with much of an atmosphere. It is also one of
the largest
moons in the
Solar System.
Some of Saturn's moons are odd. A giant crater on Mimas makes
it look like the "Death
Star" from the Star Wars movies. Iapetus is
quite dark on one side and very bright on the other. Hyperion is
shaped like a garbage can. Prometheus and Pandora are
called the "shepherd moons" because they herd particles into Saturn's "F
ring". Phoebe is very dark and
moves in a strange orbit. It may be an asteroid or Kuiper
Belt Object that Saturn's strong gravity captured long ago.
The other medium-sized moons of
Saturn are Rhea, Dione, Tethys, Enceladus, Janus and Epimetheus.
Some of Saturn's moons are icy moons. Most of the others
are small moons which are basically large
rocks
in space. Some stories from old
myths include characters that some of Saturn's moons were named after.
The two tables below list all of Saturn's know moons. One table lists them
in order of size (largest to smallest). The other table linsts them in order
of their distance from Saturn (closest to furthest).
The Moons of Saturn
|
|
|
In Order of
Distance from Saturn |
Name
|
Average Distance
from the center of Saturn |
Pan
|
133,600 km |
Atlas
|
137,700 km |
|
|
139,400 km |
|
|
141,700 km |
|
|
151,400 km |
|
|
151,500 km |
|
|
185,600 km |
|
|
238,100 km |
Calypso
|
294,700 km |
Telesto
|
294,700 km |
|
|
294,700 km |
|
|
377,400 km |
|
|
377,400 km |
|
|
527,100 km |
|
|
1,221,900 km
|
|
|
1,464,100 km |
|
|
3,560,800 km
|
|
|
11,365,000 km
|
|
|
11,442,000 km
|
|
|
12,944,300 km |
|
|
15,198,000 km
|
|
|
15,641,000 km
|
Albiorix
|
16,394,000 km
|
|
|
17,604,000 km
|
|
|
18,195,000 km
|
|
|
18,239,000 km
|
|
|
18,719,000 km |
|
|
18,722,000 km |
Suttungr
|
19,465,000 km
|
|
|
20,219,000 km
|
|
|
23,130,000 km
|
|
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