The Satellites of Saturn

Details about Saturn's 60 moons

Name	Diameter(s) (km)	Mean Distance From Planet (×10³ km)	Rotational Period (days)	Orbital Period (days)	Orbital Inclination	Orbital Eccentricity	Albedo (%)
Regular Direct Satellites
Pan	20	133.583		0.5750	0°	0	50
Daphnis	7	136.500		0.594	0°	0
Atlas	37 × 34.4 × 27	137.670		0.6019	0.3°	0	80
Prometheus	148 × 100 × 68	139.353		0.6130	0°	0.0024	50
Pandora	110 × 88 × 62	141.700		0.6285	0°	0.0042	70
Epimetheus	138 × 110 × 110	151.422	0.6942	0.6942	0.335°	0.021	80
Janus	194 × 190 × 154	151.472	0.6945	0.6945	0.165°	0.007	90
Mimas	209 × 392 × 382	185.52	0.9424	0.9424	1.566°	0.0202	50
Methone	3	194		1.01	0°	0
60th	2	?		?	?°	?
Pallene	4	211		1.14	0°	0
Enceladus	512 × 494 × 490	238.02	1.3702	1.3702	0.01°	0.0045	100
Telesto	30 × 25 × 15	294.66		1.8878	1.158°	0.001	100
Tethys	1072 × 1056 × 1052	294.66	1.8878	1.8878	1.86°	0.000	90
Calypso	30 × 16 × 16	294.66		1.8878	1.473°	0.001	100
Dione	1,118	377.40	2.7369	2.7369	0.02°	0.0022	70
Helene	36 × 32 × 30	377.40		2.7369	0.212°	0.005	70
Polydeuces	4	377.40		2.7369	0°	0
Rhea	1,528	527.04	4.5175	4.5175	0.327°	0.0010	70
Titan	5,150	1,221.83	15.945421	15.945421	1.634°	0.0292	22
Hyperion	370 × 280 × 226	1,481.1	Chaotic	21.276609	0.468°	0.018	30
The Peculiar Iapetus
Iapetus	1,436	3,560.8	79.330183	79.330183	14.72°	0.0283	5 - 50
Irregular Direct Satellites
Kiviuq	16	11,365		449.2	46.16°	0.334
Ijiraq	12	11,440		451.5	46.74°	0.322
Paaliaq	22	15,199		686.9	45.13°	0.364
Albiorix	32	16,404		783.5	33.98°	0.478
Bebhionn	6	16,950		822	41.0°	0.336
Erriapo	10	17,616		871.9	34.45°	0.474
S/2007 S1	7	17,920		895	49.83°	0.107
Siarnaq	40	18,160		893.1	45.56°	0.295
Tarvos	15	18,247		925.6	33.51°	0.531
Irregular Retrograde Satellites
Phoebe	230 × 220 × 210	12,952	0.5	-548.2	174.8°	0.164	6
Skathi	8	15,647		-728.9	152.7°	0.270
S/2007 S2	6	16,560		-800	176.7°	0.218
Skoll	6	17,665		-878.3	161.2°	0.464
S/2006 S4	6	18,105		-905	172.7°	0.374
S/2004 S13	6	18,450		-906	167.4°	0.273
S/2004 S17	6	18,600		-986	166.6°	0.259
S/2006 S6	6	18,600		-942	162.9°	0.192
Mundilfari	7	18,709		-951.4	167.5°	0.208
Narvi	7	18,719		-956.2	134.6°	0.352
Bergelmir	6	18,750		-1,008	156.9°	0.180
S/2006 S1	6	18,981		-970	154.2°	0.130
Hyrokkin	8	19,338		-931.8	151.4°	0.333
Aegir	6	19,350		-1,026	167.0°	0.241
Suttungr	7	19,463		-1,016.3	175.8°	0.114
S/2004 S12	5	19,650		-1,048	164.0°	0.401
Bestla	7	19,650		-1,052	147.4°	0.795
Farbauti	5	19,800		-1,077	157.6°	0.235
S/2004 S07	6	19,800		-1,103	165.1°	0.580
Hati	6	19,950		-1,081	162.7°	0.292
S/2007 S3	5	20,159		-1,100	177.2°	0.130
Thrymr	7	20,382		-1,086.9	175.8°	0.470
S/2006 S3	6	21,132		-1,142	150.8°	0.471
Kari	7	22,118		-1,233.6	156.3°	0.478
Fenrir	4	22,200		-1,271	163.0°	0.135
Fornjot	6	22,200		-1,355	168.0°	0.213
Surtur	6	22,707		-1,297.7	177.5°	0.451
Loge	6	23,065		-1,312.0	167.9°	0.187
Ymir	18	23,096		-1,312.4	173.1°	0.333

Name

The inner satellites of Saturn have names associated with classical Greek mythology. Un-named satellites are in blue.

Diameter

Titan is one of the largest satellites in the Solar System. It is larger than the planet Mercury and is large enough to have a substantial atmosphere.

Most of the other satellites are irregularly shaped bodies; only three are over 1000km in diameter.

The outer satellites are less than 100km in diameter apart from Phoebe. They may be captured asteroids.

Mean Distance From Planet

Some of the inner satellites of Saturn are bunched together. The closest ones are very close to the planet's ring system.

Rotational and Orbital Periods

About half of Saturn's satellites rotate in the same period as they revolve around the planet. This is caused by the strong tidal forces exerted by the planet on the satellite. The outer satellites are less affected by tidal forces.

As seen from above the north pole of the Earth, most of the planets and satellites revolve in an anticlockwise direction. This is called Direct or Prograde Motion. Some satellites revolve in a clockwise sense. This is called Retrograde Motion and is shown by the presence of a minus sign. Phoebe and the other outer satellites revolve in the retrograde direction.

Orbital Inclination

This is the angle of inclination of the satellite orbits compared to the planet's equatorial plane. Most of Saturn's inner satellites orbit very close to the planet's equator, apart from Iapetus. The outer satellites have higher inclinations.

Orbital Eccentricity

The orbits of Saturns's inner satellites are nearly circular. The outer ones have eccentric orbits. The recently discovered S/2004 S18 has the solar system's most eccentric satellite orbit.

Albedo

This is the percentage of sunlight that is reflected by the satellites. Saturn's satellites tend to be very reflective. They are probably icy bodies.

Iapetus has one very dark side and one bright side; probably the result of a collision or a close encounter with the planet's rings.

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