shepherd satellite tagged posts

Origin of Saturn’s F ring and its Shepherd Satellites revealed

Images of Saturn’s Main Rings, the F Ring, and its Shepherd Satellites Obtained by Cassini /The narrow F ring located just outside of the outer edge of the main rings. Two satellites sandwiching the F ring slightly above and to the left of the center of the image are the shepherd satellites Prometheus (inner orbit) and Pandora (outer orbit) (NASA/PIA12717) Credit: Image courtesy of Kobe University

Images of Saturn’s Main Rings, the F Ring, and its Shepherd Satellites Obtained by Cassini /The narrow F ring located just outside of the outer edge of the main rings. Two satellites sandwiching the F ring slightly above and to the left of the center of the image are the shepherd satellites Prometheus (inner orbit) and Pandora (outer orbit) (NASA/PIA12717) Credit: Image courtesy of Kobe University

Saturn’s F ring and its shepherd satellites are natural outcome of the final stage of formation of Saturn’s satellite system. Saturn, which is the 2nd largest planet in our solar system, is known to have multiple rings and satellites. In 1979, Pioneer 11 discovered the F ring located just outside the main ring system that extends tens of thousands of kilometers...

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