In astronomy, Pandora is a moon orbiting Saturn near its F ring.
Pandora is one of Saturn’s small irregularly shaped satellites. It acts as an outer shepherd satellite of the narrow F ring, helping scientists study the ring’s structure through its gravitational interaction with ring particles. Prometheus, another small Saturnian moon, serves as the inner shepherd of the F ring.
Voyager 1 images led to Pandora’s discovery in 1980, although the moon was not immediately recognized in every early image. Its name comes from Pandora, the figure in Greek mythology associated with the container commonly called Pandora’s Box. The astronomical name follows the convention of assigning mythological names to many planetary satellites.
Pandora should not be confused with the asteroid 55 Pandora or with the fictional planet Pandora in the film Avatar. It is also far smaller than Saturn’s major moons such as Titan and Rhea. In planetary science, the precise answer is “moon” or “natural satellite,” with moon being the shorter canonical term.