In Through and Beyond Saturns Rings
Explanation:
A fourth moon is visible on the
above image
if you look hard enough.
First -- and furthest in the background -- is
Titan, the largest moon of Saturn and one of the larger
moons in the Solar System.
The dark feature across the top of this perpetually cloudy world is the
north polar hood.
The next most obvious moon is bright
Dione,
visible in the foreground, complete with craters and long
ice cliffs.
Jutting in from the left are several of Saturn's
expansive rings,
including Saturn's A ring featuring the dark
Encke Gap.
On the far right, just outside the rings, is
Pandora,
a moon only 80-kilometers across that
helps shepherd
Saturn's F ring.
The fourth moon?
If you look closely in the Encke Gap you'll find a spec that is actually
Pan.
Although one of Saturn's smallest moons at 35-kilometers across, Pan is massive enough
to help keep the
Encke gap relatively
free of ring particles.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
