Prometheus (moon)

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Moon of Saturn

title: "Prometheus (moon)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["moons-of-saturn", "astronomical-objects-discovered-in-1980", "articles-containing-video-clips", "prometheus", "discoveries-by-stewart-a.-collins", "moons-with-a-prograde-orbit"] description: "Moon of Saturn" topic_path: "general/moons-of-saturn" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_(moon)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Moon of Saturn ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox planet"]

Field	Value
name	Prometheus
image	Prometheus 12-26-09b.jpg
caption	Prometheus image from Cassini (December 26, 2009)
pronounced
adjective	Promethean, -ian
named_after	Προμηθεύς Promētheys
mpc_name	Saturn XVI
discoverer	Stewart A. Collins
D. Carlson
Voyager 1
discovered	24 October 1980
orbit_ref
epoch	31 December 2003 (JD )
semimajor
eccentricity
period
inclination	to Saturn's equator
satellite_of	Saturn
group	Inner shepherd moon of the F Ring
dimensions	km
(± km)
mean_diameter
volume
mass
density
surface_grav
escape_velocity	km/s at longest axis
to km/s at poles
rotation	synchronous
axial_tilt	zero
albedo	0.6
single_temperature	≈ 74 K
::

Prometheus is an inner satellite of Saturn. It was discovered on 24 October 1980 from images taken by the Voyager 1 probe, and was provisionally designated S/1980 S 27.

In late 1985 it was officially named after Prometheus, a Titan in Greek mythology. It is also designated Saturn XVI.

Prometheus is extremely elongated, measuring approximately 137 x 81 x 56 km. It has several ridges and valleys and a number of impact craters of about 20 km diameter are visible, but it is less cratered than nearby Pandora, Epimetheus, and Janus. From its very low density and relatively high albedo, it is likely that Prometheus is a very porous icy body. There is much uncertainty in these values, however, and so this remains to be confirmed.

Interactions with F Ring and other moons

Prometheus is a shepherd satellite for the inner edge of Saturn's narrow F Ring. Pandora orbits just outside the F Ring, and has traditionally been viewed as an outer shepherd of the ring; however, recent studies indicate that only Prometheus contributes to the confinement of the ring.{{cite web | last = Lakdawalla | first = E. | author-link = Emily Lakdawalla | title = On the masses and motions of mini-moons: Pandora's not a "shepherd", but Prometheus still is | publisher = Planetary Society | date = 2014-07-05 | url = http://www.planetary.org/blogs/emily-lakdawalla/2014/07010001-ringmoons-shepherds.html | access-date = 2015-04-17 }}

Images from the Cassini probe show that Prometheus's gravitational influence creates kinks and knots in the F Ring as it shepherds material from it. The orbit of Prometheus appears to be chaotic, due to a series of four 121:118 mean-motion resonances with Pandora. The most appreciable changes in their orbits occur approximately every 6.2 years, when the periapsis of Pandora lines up with the apoapsis of Prometheus, as they approach to within approximately 1400 km. Prometheus is itself a significant perturber of Atlas, with which it is in a 53:54 mean-longitude resonance.

Prometheus also participates in a 17:15 mean-motion resonance with Epimetheus, but only while it is on the outer orbit relative to Janus. No such configuration with Janus exists.

Gallery

Selected images

Animations

| title = | width = 400 | File:Prometheus collides with F ring PIA08397 ff025.ogv|Prometheus collides with the F ring, pulls a streamer, and leaves behind a dark channel. 12 seconds 107 kbit/s | File:Prometheus F ring from PIA08262 fr25 twice.ogv|Movie of Prometheus and the F Ring looped once. 5 seconds 48 kbit/s

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

{{cite journal | last = Marsden | first = Brian G. | title = Satellites of Saturn | date = October 31, 1980 | format = discovery | journal = IAU Circular | issue = 3532 | url = http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/03500/03532.html | access-date = 2011-12-29 | ref =
{{cite journal | last = Marsden | first = Brian G. | title = Satellites of Saturn and Pluto | date = January 3, 1986 | format = naming the moon | journal = IAU Circular | issue = 4157 | url = http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/04100/04157.html | access-date = 2011-12-29 | ref =
{{cite web | author = USGS/IAU | title = Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers | date = July 21, 2006 | publisher = USGS Astrogeology | work = Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature | url = https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Page/Planets#SaturnianSystem | access-date = 2011-12-29 | ref =
{{cite journal |ref = |first1 = P. C. |last1 = Thomas |first2 = P. |last2 = Helfenstein |title = The small inner satellites of Saturn: Shapes, structures and some implications |journal = Icarus |date = July 2020 |volume = 344 |id = 113355 |pages = 20 |doi = 10.1016/j.icarus.2019.06.016 |bibcode = 2020Icar..34413355T|s2cid = 197474587 }}
{{cite journal |ref = |first1 = V. |last1 = Lainey |first2 = N. |last2 = Rambaux |first3 = N. |last3 = Cooper |first4 = R. |last4 = Dahoumane |first5 = Q. |last5 = Zhang |title = Characterising the interior of five inner Saturnian moons using Cassini ISS data |journal = Astronomy & Astrophysics |date = February 2023 |volume = 670 |id = L25 |pages = 6 |doi-access = free |doi = 10.1051/0004-6361/202244757 |bibcode = 2023A&A...670L..25L}}

References

"Prometheus". [[Oxford University Press]].
"Promethean". [[Oxford University Press]].
(April 2014). "Saturn's F Ring core: Calm in the midst of chaos". Icarus.
Cooper, N. J.. (2014-12-24). "SATURNʼS INNER SATELLITES: ORBITS, MASSES, AND THE CHAOTIC MOTION OF ATLAS FROM NEW CASSINI IMAGING OBSERVATIONS". The Astronomical Journal.

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