Moons of the Solar System: Pan

The Cassini mission has released new images of Pan

Pan is a tiny moon of Saturn’s that orbits between rings at a distance of 135,000km. The moon itself is barely 35km in diameter, and new closeup images reveal that its equatorial bulge make it appear rather like a piece of ravioli.

Raw image of Saturn’s moon Pan, with its bulging equator at an angle. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

This moon is one of several ring shepherds: it orbits in between rings in a gap that it keeps free of dust, ice, and other ring particles. The moon was discovered by prediction. Observation of the ring gap — called the Encke Gap — led astronomers to believe that a shepherd moon existed. Further calculations narrowed down the size and location of the moon, and hunt began for it in 1985.

Another image from Cassini showing Pan orbiting in the Encke Gap. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

The moon was discovered in 1990, a little smaller than predicted. It was named after Pan, the Greek god of shepherds.

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