Pandora, one of Saturn’s moons, was discovered in Voyager 1 images in 1980.
The moon was identified by astronomers Richard J. Terrile and Bradford A. Smith while examining images sent back by NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft. Pandora is a small, irregular satellite associated with Saturn’s narrow F ring, where it acts as an outer shepherd moon. Its companion shepherd moon, Prometheus, lies on the other side of the ring.
Voyager 1 made its closest approach to Saturn in November 1980, but the discovery of Pandora came from images obtained during that mission’s observations. The moon was later given the name Pandora, after the figure in Greek mythology whose container released troubles into the world.
Pandora is not the same object as the hypothetical container from the myth or the fictional settings that use the phrase “Pandora’s Box.” It is an astronomical body orbiting Saturn, and its mythological name is part of a broader tradition of naming planetary satellites after figures from classical literature and mythology.