Pandora is the Saturn moon designated Saturn XVII. It is a small outer shepherd moon of Saturn’s F ring and was discovered in images taken by Voyager 1 in 1980.
Pandora’s irregular, bright surface and low density distinguish it from Saturn’s larger moons. Its gravity helps influence the narrow F ring, although Pandora shares that shepherding relationship with the nearby moon Prometheus. The two moons orbit on opposite sides of the F ring and interact gravitationally with its particles.
The moon was named after Pandora, the figure from Greek mythology, in 1985. It should not be confused with Saturn’s moon Prometheus, which was discovered in the same Voyager-era observations and takes its name from another mythological figure.
“Saturn XVII” is a Roman-numeral designation based on the historical order in which Saturn’s satellites were recognized, not a claim that Pandora is Saturn’s seventeenth moon by distance from the planet.