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Aegaeon (moon)

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Moon of Saturn
Aegaeon
Aegaeon's crescent imaged by the Cassini spacecraft from a distance of 15238.2 km in 2010
Discovery
Discovered by Carolyn Porco
Discovery dateMarch 3, 2009 (2009年03月03日)
Cassini Imaging Science Team
Designations
Designation
Saturn LIII
Pronunciation/ˈɒn/ [1]
Named after
Αιγαίων Aigaiōn
Adjectives Aegaeonian /ˈniən/ [2]
Orbital characteristics
Epoch JD 2454467.00075444 TDB
167493.665±0.004 km[3]
Eccentricity 0.00042277±0.00000004[3]
0.80812 d[4]
Inclination 0.0007°±0.6°[3]
Satellite of Saturn
Group Source of the G Ring
Physical characteristics
Dimensions 1.40 ×ばつ 0.50 ×ばつ 0.40 km
(± 0.10 ×ばつ 0.12 ×ばつ 0.16 km)[5] : 2 
0.66±0.12 km[5] : 2 
Volume 0.15 km3[a]
Mass (7.82±3.00)×ばつ1010 kg[5] : 3 
Mean density
0.539±0.140 g/cm3[5] : 3 
0.009–0.013 mm/s2[5] : 3 
(0.9–1.3 micro-g)
0.001 km/s at longest axis
to 0.002 km/s at poles
assumed synchronous
Albedo < 0.15

Aegaeon /ˈɒn/ , or Saturn LIII (provisional designation S/2008 S 1), is a natural satellite of Saturn. It has an extremely elongated shape whose surface is thought to be similarly smooth as Methone.[6] It orbits between Janus and Mimas within Saturn's G Ring.

Discovery and naming

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Images of Aegaeon were taken by Cassini on 15 August 2008, and its discovery was announced on 3 March 2009 by Carolyn Porco of the Cassini Imaging Science Team using the provisional designation S/2008 S 1.[4]

Aegaeon was named after one of the hekatonkheires on 5 May 2009.[7]

Orbit

[edit ]
2008 Cassini images of the bright G Ring arc with Aegaeon embedded within it. These images were taken over the course of ten minutes.

Aegaeon orbits within the bright segment of Saturn's G Ring, and is probably a major source of the ring.[8] Debris knocked off Aegaeon forms a bright arc near the inner edge, which in turn spreads to form the rest of the ring. Aegaeon orbits in a 7:6 corotation eccentricity resonance with Mimas,[3] which causes an approximately 4-year oscillation of about 4 km in its semi-major axis, and a corresponding oscillation of a few degrees in its mean longitude. It orbits Saturn at an average distance of 167,500 km in 0.80812 days, at an inclination of 0.001° to Saturn's equator, with an eccentricity of 0.0002.[4]

Physical characteristics

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Aegaeon is the smallest known moon of Saturn outside of the rings and has an extremely elongated shape, measuring 1.4 km ×ばつ 0.5 km ×ばつ 0.4 km (0.87 mi ×ばつ 0.31 mi ×ばつ 0.25 mi) in size.[9] Measurements of its mass show that Aegaeon has a very low density, likely due to a highly porous and icy interior structure.[5] Aegaeon has the lowest albedo, below 0.15, of any Saturnian moon inward of Titan.[10] This might be due to either darker meteoric material making up the dust in the G ring or due to Aegaeon having been disrupted, stripping away its ice-rich surface and leaving the rocky inner core behind.[10]

Exploration

[edit ]

The Cassini spacecraft has performed four flybys of Aegaeon closer than 20,000 km, though only one has occurred since its discovery in 2008. The closest of these pre-discovery encounters took place on 5 September 2005 at a distance of 8,517 km.[11] An encounter on 27 January 2010 at a distance 13,306 km allowed Cassini to acquire its highest resolution images of Aegaeon.[10] On 19 December 2015, Cassini was unable to capture any images from a planned close flyby.

Notes

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  1. ^ Calculated from Aegaeon's volume-equivalent sphere radius of 0.33±0.06 km given by Thomas et al. (2020)[5] : 2 

References

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  1. ^ Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
  2. ^ Maravilla, D.; Leal-Herrera, J. L. (2014). "The Saturnian G-Ring: A Short Note about its Formation". Revista Mexicana de Astronomía y Astrofísica. 50 (2): 342, 346, 347. Bibcode:2014RMxAA..50..341M. ISSN 0185-1101.
  3. ^ a b c d Hedman, M.M.; Cooper, N.J.; Murray, C.D.; Beurle, K.; Evans, M.W.; Tiscareno, M.S.; Burns, J.A. (May 2010). "Aegaeon (Saturn LIII), a G-ring object". Icarus. 207 (1): 433–447. arXiv:0911.0171 . Bibcode:2010Icar..207..433H. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2009年10月02日4. S2CID 118559643.
  4. ^ a b c "IAU Circular No. 9023". Archived from the original on 2019年05月01日. Retrieved 2009年03月04日.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Thomas, P. C.; Helfenstein, P. (July 2020). "The small inner satellites of Saturn: Shapes, structures and some implications". Icarus. 344: 20. Bibcode:2020Icar..34413355T. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2019年06月01日6. S2CID 197474587. 113355.
  6. ^ Battersby, S. (2013年05月17日). "Saturn's egg moon Methone is made of fluff". www.newscientist.com. New Scientist . Retrieved 2013年05月21日.
  7. ^ Jennifer Blue, Saturnian Satellite Named Aegaeon, USGS Astrogeology Hot Topics, 5 May 2009
  8. ^ Petite Moon Archived 2011年07月25日 at the Wayback Machine, CICLOPS, 29 May 2009
  9. ^ Thomas, P.C.; Burns, J.A.; Hedman, M.; Helfenstein, P.; Morrison, S.; Tiscareno, M.S.; Veverka, J. (2013). "The inner small satellites of Saturn: A variety of worlds" (PDF). Icarus. 226 (1): 999–1019. Bibcode:2013Icar..226..999T. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2013年07月02日2 . Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  10. ^ a b c Hedman, M.M.; Burns, J.A.; Thomas, P.C.; Tiscareno, M.S.; Evans, M.W. (2011). Physical Properties of the small moon Aegaeon (Saturn LIII) (PDF). European Planetary Space Conference. Icarus. Vol. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  11. ^ Planetary Society Cassini Timeline
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Listed in approximate increasing distance from Saturn
Ring moonlets
Ring shepherds
Other inner moons
Alkyonides
Large moons
(with trojans)
Inuit group (13)
Kiviuq subgroup
Paaliaq subgroup
Siarnaq subgroup
Gallic group (7)
Norse group (100)
Phoebe subgroup
Outlier prograde
irregular moons

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