Prometheus—Shepherd of the F Ring

勇士之箭HS 2021-05-27

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Prometheus is an inner moon of Saturn. It orbits Saturn (in a prograde motion, which is the motion that a moon or a planet moves around the planet or star in the same way that the planet or star rotates) at the distance of 139,353 km. Situated on the F ring, it is called a shepherd moon. You will see why it is called a shepherd moon soon.

This small, long, irregular shaped moon has a diameter of 86.2 km. This moon was discovered by Stewart Collins in October 1980, when he looked on the images made by Voyager 1. This moon was originally called S/1980 S 27. Later, in late 1985, it became officially named as Prometheus. This moon was also called Saturn XVI.

Prometheus is quite interesting, but at magnitude 15.8, you can’t see it with any amateur telescope. However, for such a small moon, it is quite bright. The orbital period of Prometheus is 0.6130 days.

Even though you can’t see it with any amateur telescope, you can still admire it by looking at the pictures of Prometheus made by space probes like Voyager 1 and Cassini. Anyway, this is an interesting moon.

This moon is a moon of many craters. Some craters can have a diameter of 20 km. Even though it has quite a lot of craters, it doesn’t have as many craters as its neighboring moons, Pandora, Epimetheus, and Janus.

Along with Pandora, this moon is a shepherd of the F ring. Why? Well, it, along with Pandora, had been not only orbiting Saturn on the F ring, but also taking particles (which was ice, rocks, and other debris that make up the rings of Saturn) off it and leading them as Prometheus and Pandora progress around Saturn. You can see this is why it’s called a shepherd moon: it is like a shepherd leading its flocks. This is also why Prometheus and Pandora are famous.

Prometheus, when discovered in October 1980, was called S/1980 S 27. However, in late 1985, it became officially named as Prometheus. It was named after Prometheus, the son of Titan Iapetus. Prometheus was the brother of Epimetheus. Prometheus is in Greek mythology, a god of fire, who intended to steal fire to give to humans but was punished by Zeus and chained to a rock. Everyday a bird will come to eat his liver, but it will grow back the next day. This is a famous myth, and the moon of Prometheus was named after it.

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Prometheus—Shepherd of the F Ring

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