Saturn's natural satellites - Grouping the moons

Although the borders may be somewhat nebulous, Saturn's moons can be divided into eight groups. Saturn's natural satellites - The ring shepherds. Shepherd satellites are moons that orbit within, or just beyond, a planet's ring system. They have the effect of sculpting the rings: giving them sharp edges, and creating gaps between them. Saturn's shepherd moons are Pan, Daphnis, Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, S/2004 S 3, in addition to the unconfirmed moons S/2004 S 4 and S/2004 S 6. See also:

Saturn's natural satellites, Saturn's natural satellites - Introduction, Saturn's natural satellites - Table of known moons, Saturn's natural satellites - Grouping the moons, Saturn's natural satellites - The ring shepherds, Saturn's natural satellites - The co-orbitals, Saturn's natural satellites - The inner large moons, Saturn's natural satellites - The Trojan moons, Saturn's natural satellites - The outer large moons, Saturn's natural satellites - The Inuit group, Saturn's natural satellites - The Norse group, Saturn's natural satellites - The Gallic group, Saturn's natural satellites - Naming notes

Read more here: » Saturn's natural satellites: Encyclopedia II - Saturn's natural satellites - Grouping the moons

The Saturnian moons are listed here by orbital period, from shortest to longest. Moons massive enough for their surfaces to have collapsed into a spheroid are highlighted in light purple. Titan, which is planetary in size, has darker highlighting. The irregular (captured) moons are indicated in grey. (Pronunciation key) (1) Computed from the semi-major axis using the IAU-MPC Natural Satellites Ephemeris Service µ value (2) It is not yet clear if these are real satellites or merely persisten ...

See also:

Saturn's natural satellites, Saturn's natural satellites - Introduction, Saturn's natural satellites - Table of known moons, Saturn's natural satellites - Grouping the moons, Saturn's natural satellites - The ring shepherds, Saturn's natural satellites - The co-orbitals, Saturn's natural satellites - The inner large moons, Saturn's natural satellites - The Trojan moons, Saturn's natural satellites - The outer large moons, Saturn's natural satellites - The Inuit group, Saturn's natural satellites - The Norse group, Saturn's natural satellites - The Gallic group, Saturn's natural satellites - Naming notes

Read more here: » Saturn's natural satellites: Encyclopedia II - Saturn's natural satellites - Table of known moons

Saturn is currently known to have 47 moons, many of which were discovered very recently, and 3 suspected moons. However, a precise number of moons can never be given, as there is no objective dividing line between the anonymous orbiting fragments that form Saturn's ring system and the larger objects that have already been named as moons. Before the Space Age, 9 moons were known to orbit Saturn. In 1980, the Voyager space probes discovered 9 more moons in the inner Saturnian system. A survey starting in l ...

See also:

Saturn's natural satellites, Saturn's natural satellites - Introduction, Saturn's natural satellites - Table of known moons, Saturn's natural satellites - Grouping the moons, Saturn's natural satellites - The ring shepherds, Saturn's natural satellites - The co-orbitals, Saturn's natural satellites - The inner large moons, Saturn's natural satellites - The Trojan moons, Saturn's natural satellites - The outer large moons, Saturn's natural satellites - The Inuit group, Saturn's natural satellites - The Norse group, Saturn's natural satellites - The Gallic group, Saturn's natural satellites - Naming notes

Read more here: » Saturn's natural satellites: Encyclopedia II - Saturn's natural satellites - Introduction