This is a composite image of the small moons of Saturn.
Click on image for full size
NASA

Janus

Janus was discovered by A. Dollfus in 1966. Janus is the 5th closest moon to Saturn. Janus is one of the small moons, and is about the size of a county.

Janus and Epimetheus orbit Saturn together. They are only 50 km (33 miles) apart as they orbit Saturn, which is a little like having two moons in the same city. The fact that they are so close may mean that they are two pieces of what may once have been a single moon.

Last modified January 19, 2001 by Jennifer Bergman.

You might also be interested in:

Evolution of Small Moons

The small moons are too small to be seen, so it is hard to say anything about what they are made of, or what their history might be. Some of the small moons may be little pieces of another, bigger, moon...more

Saturn's Moons and Rings

The planet Saturn has a lot of moons. It has a total of // Call the moon count function defined in the document head print_moon_count('saturn'); moons! Saturn also has huge rings which you can see in any...more

A Comparison of Saturn's Icy Moons, and the Earth's Moon

This is an image of the Earth's moon, shown in the lower left, with the icy moons of Saturn. The moons in order, starting from the top left are: Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, and Iapetus. ...more

Dione

Dione was discovered by G. Cassini in 1684. Dione is the 7th farthest moon from Saturn. It is a small icy moon, lightly cratered, with white streaks across the surface. Dione is about as wide as the Oregon...more

The Surface of Dione

The surface of Dione does not have many craters, which means that the surface has changed in the past. Instead of many craters, it has wispy white streaks like the ones on Rhea, which go for many kilometers...more

The Surface of Enceladus

The surface of Enceladus does not have many craters. Instead it has grooves similar to those found on Ganymede. These grooves extend for many kilometers over the surface. The presence of grooves indicates...more

Helene

Helene was discovered on February 29, 1980, by French scientists. Although Helene is very far away, they were able to see this small moon by using a powerful telescope and fancy camera. A few months later,...more

Hyperion

Hyperion was discovered by W. Bond in 1848. Hyperion is the 3rd farthest moon from Saturn. Hyperion is about the size of a large county or small state. One of the main things about Hyperion is its unusual...more

Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA