The Saturnian moon Pandora was originally designated S/1980 S 26 after it was discovered in images taken by Voyager 1. The designation records the discovery year, the planet Saturn and its catalog sequence at the time.
Voyager 1 photographed Pandora in October 1980. The moon is a small inner satellite that acts as an outer shepherd of Saturn’s narrow F ring, working with the moon Prometheus to confine and shape the ring’s particles through gravity.
The International Astronomical Union later gave the moon the permanent name Pandora, drawing on the mythological figure. It is not the same object as the asteroid 55 Pandora, and the shared name can cause confusion in astronomy references. Pandora’s irregular, potato-like body measures only a few dozen kilometres across.