In astronomy, which ring of Saturn does the moon Pandora help shepherd?

In astronomy, Saturn’s moon Pandora helps shepherd the planet’s narrow F ring. Pandora orbits just outside the F ring, while the moon Prometheus orbits just inside it. Their gravitational influence helps confine and shape the ring’s tenuous material.

Pandora is therefore called an outer shepherd satellite. Shepherd moons affect ring particles through gravity, creating boundaries and contributing to structures such as kinks, strands, and channels. Saturn’s F ring is especially dynamic and irregular compared with the planet’s broad, brighter rings.

The moon was discovered in images returned by the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1980. Its name comes from Pandora in Greek mythology, continuing a naming tradition that gives many Saturnian moons names from myths and literature. Pandora should not be confused with the similarly named asteroid 55 Pandora.