The Roman numeral XVII identifies Pandora among Saturn’s numbered moons.
Planetary satellites are often given Roman numerals in addition to names. Pandora is designated Saturn XVII, meaning it was assigned the seventeenth position in Saturn’s traditional numbering system. The numeral is not a measurement of size, distance, or discovery order in a simple universal sense; it is a formal satellite designation.
Pandora is a small moon discovered in Voyager 1 images in 1980. It occupies an orbit near Saturn’s F ring and works with Prometheus as a shepherd satellite. Its irregular shape and ring interactions make it scientifically important despite its modest size.
Roman-numeral designations can be confusing because newly confirmed moons may receive names and numbers at different stages. “Pandora XVII” or “Saturn XVII” refers to the same moon in this context, while Pandora’s mythological namesake has no astronomical numeral.