What is Pandora’s designation as a moon of Saturn?

Saturn’s small moon named for the mythological figure has the designation Pandora.

Pandora was discovered in photographs taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1980. It is an outer shepherd moon of Saturn’s narrow F ring, which means its gravity helps influence and confine material in that ring. The moon is irregularly shaped and heavily cratered, reflecting the complex environment around Saturn’s rings.

Pandora is often confused with Prometheus because the two moons work together as shepherds of the F ring. Prometheus orbits on the inner side of the ring, while Pandora orbits on the outer side. Their gravitational interactions can create changing structures in the ring material.

The moon’s name comes from Greek mythology, as do many names in the Saturn system. Pandora is therefore connected to the topic in two ways: through its mythological namesake and through its role in planetary science. It is unrelated to asteroid 55 Pandora, which is a separate object orbiting the Sun in the main asteroid belt.