Pandora, the moon first seen in Voyager 1 images in 1980, orbits Saturn. It is a small outer shepherd moon associated with Saturn’s narrow F ring.
Voyager 1 photographed Pandora during its historic encounter with Saturn in November 1980. The moon was not immediately recognized as a clearly separate object in the first images; its identification was confirmed through analysis of the spacecraft’s observations. NASA later announced and named the satellite in the 1980s.
Pandora’s irregular shape and location near the F ring make it scientifically interesting. Together with the moon Prometheus, it helps gravitationally influence the ring’s particles, although their interactions are complex and can produce changing structures in the ring.
This astronomical Pandora is separate from asteroid 55 Pandora and from the mythological character. Saturn has many moons with names drawn from mythology, and the name here deliberately echoes the Greek story while identifying a natural satellite with a specific orbit.