Saturn’s 15th moon, 1980S28

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Caption:

Voyager 1 has found a 15th moon orbiting Saturn, visible near the bottom of this picture taken on Nov. 6, 1980, when the spacecraft was still 8 million kilometers (5 million miles) from Saturn. Voyager imaging team scientists discovered the moon Nov. 7, 1980, in the first of several programmed searches for new satellites of Saturn. The unique location of the 15th satellite, just 800 kilometers (500 miles) outside the outer edge of the A-ring, is especially significant in that this small body, approximately 100 kilometers (50 miles) in diameter, may be responsible for defining the outer edge of Saturn's bright ring system. The orbital period of the new satellite is approximately 14 hours, 20 minutes, the shortest orbit of any of Saturn's known satellites. The very narrow F-ring, approximately 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) outside the outer edge of the A-ring, is seen prominently in this picture.

Background Info:

The Voyager Project is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

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