In astronomy, what is Pandora, the small moon of Saturn, classified as?

Pandora, the small moon of Saturn, is classified as a shepherd moon.

Pandora orbits near Saturn’s F ring and helps shape that ring through its gravitational influence. It works with the moon Prometheus, which orbits on the other side of the F ring. Their interactions can create structures and disturbances in the ring material, making them important examples of how moons sculpt planetary rings.

Voyager 1 images revealed Pandora in 1980, and the International Astronomical Union later approved the name drawn from Greek mythology. The moon is irregularly shaped and heavily cratered. Its orbit lies outside the F ring, while Prometheus lies inside it, producing the paired configuration often used to explain the shepherd-moon concept.

Pandora is not a planet, dwarf planet, or ring itself. “Shepherd moon” is a descriptive term for a satellite whose gravity confines or organizes ring particles. Saturn has several moons associated with ring structure, but Pandora and Prometheus are especially famous for their relationship with the narrow F ring.