Pandora is the Saturn moon that shares the mythological name and helps shepherd the planet’s F ring.
Pandora is a small moon of Saturn discovered in 1980 from images taken by Voyager 1. It orbits just outside the F ring and works with the moon Prometheus to influence that ring’s narrow, braided structure. For this reason, Pandora and Prometheus are called shepherd satellites.
The moon’s name comes from Pandora of Greek mythology, continuing the convention of naming many Saturnian satellites after mythological figures. Its astronomical role has no literal connection to opening a jar; the shared name is cultural and symbolic.
Pandora is also part of a group of Saturnian moons whose properties became clearer through spacecraft imaging. It is irregularly shaped and heavily marked by impacts. The nearby moon Prometheus is easy to confuse with Pandora because both affect the F ring, but Pandora lies on the ring’s outer side while Prometheus orbits on the inner side.