Pandora, a moon of Saturn, was discovered in 1980.
Astronomers discovered Pandora in images returned by the Voyager 1 spacecraft during its encounter with Saturn. The discovery was made by Richard J. Terrile, who identified the small satellite in those images. Pandora is an outer shepherd moon of Saturn’s narrow F ring.
Although Voyager 1 photographed the moon in 1980, the International Astronomical Union officially approved the name Pandora in 1985. This creates a common mix-up: 1980 is the discovery year, while 1985 is the year associated with the moon’s official naming.
Pandora is an irregularly shaped body only a few dozen kilometres across. It helps gravitationally influence Saturn’s F ring, alongside the nearby moon Prometheus. The Saturnian moon is named after Pandora from Greek mythology, but it is entirely separate from asteroid 55 Pandora, which orbits the Sun in the main asteroid belt.