Pandora

Saturn XVII

   Pandora ("pan DOR uh") is the fourth of Saturn's known satellites:
        orbit:    141,700 km from Saturn
        diameter: 84 km (114 x 84 x 62)
        mass:     2.2e17 kg
   In Greek mythology Pandora was the first woman, bestowed upon humankind by Zeus as a punishment for Prometheus's theft of fire. Entrusted with a box containing all the ills that could plague people, she opened it out of curiosity and thereby released all the evils of human life; wife of Epimetheus.

   Discovered by Collins and others in 1980 from Voyager photos.

   Pandora is the outer shepherd satellite of the F ring. The image at right shows both Pandora, the faint F ring, Prometheus and part of the A ring.

   More heavily cratered than nearby Prometheus, Pandora has at least two large craters 30 km in diameter. But it shows no linear ridges or valleys.

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Contents ... Saturn ... Prometheus ... Pandora ... Epimetheus ... Data Host

Bill Arnett; last updated: 1996 September 25