What is the official astronomical designation of Saturn’s moon Pandora?

The official astronomical designation of Saturn’s moon Pandora is Saturn XVII. The Roman numeral XVII means 17, reflecting Pandora’s position in the historical numbering system for Saturn’s satellites rather than its distance from the planet.

Pandora is a small irregular moon orbiting Saturn and is known as an outer shepherd satellite of the planet’s narrow F ring. Its gravitational influence helps shape the ring’s structure, while the nearby moon Prometheus acts as the inner shepherd. Pandora and Prometheus are often discussed together because of this paired relationship.

The name Pandora comes from the Greek mythological figure, but the moon is not Saturn’s seventeenth moon by modern discovery order or a simple count of all currently known satellites. Astronomical Roman-numeral designations are historical labels, and additional discoveries can make the numbering look less intuitive to general readers.