What role does Saturn’s moon Pandora play around the planet’s F ring?

Saturn’s moon Pandora is the outer shepherd satellite of the planet’s F ring.

A shepherd satellite is a moon whose gravity helps confine or shape a planetary ring. Pandora orbits just outside Saturn’s narrow F ring, while Prometheus orbits just inside it. Together, the two moons are known as the F ring’s shepherd satellites because their gravitational effects help maintain the ring’s narrow, structured appearance.

Pandora is a small, irregularly shaped moon discovered by Voyager 1 in 1980. Although it is much less massive than Saturn’s major moons, its proximity to the F ring makes its gravitational influence scientifically important. The moon’s orbit and interactions with Prometheus can also produce waves, kinks, and other changing features in the ring.

The phrase “outer shepherd” distinguishes Pandora from Prometheus, the inner shepherd. This is why calling Pandora simply a ring moon is incomplete: several Saturnian moons are associated with rings, but Pandora has the specific outer-shepherd role.