Encyclopedia > Pan (moon)

  Article Content

Pan (moon)

Pan
Discovery
Discovered byMark R. Showalter[?]
Discovered in1990
Orbital characteristics
Semimajor axis133,583 km
Eccentricity0
Orbital period13h 48m
Inclination
Is a satellite ofSaturn
Physical characteristics
Mean radius10 km
Mass2.7×1015 kg
Mean density0.6 g/cm3
Surface gravity0.002m/s2
>Rotation periodunknown
Axial tilt
Albedo0.5
Atmospherenone

Pan is a moon of Saturn, named after the god Pan. It was discovered by Mark R. Showalter[?] in 1990 from analysis of old Voyager probe photos. Pan is within the Encke Division in Saturn's A ring; it acts as a shepherd and is responsible for keeping the Encke gap open. Its gravity produces wave patterns in the rings that indicated Pan's presence and led to the reexamination of Voyager photographs of its predicted location. Other undiscovered moons may exist within Saturn's rings.



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
East Hampton North, New York

... (5.6 mi²) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there are 3,587 people, 1,445 households, and 881 ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 49.8 ms