Pandora, the Saturnian moon named for the Greek myth, helps shepherd Saturn’s F ring.
Pandora is an irregular satellite orbiting just outside Saturn’s F ring. Together with the inner shepherd moon Prometheus, it helps confine and shape the narrow, braided ring. Their gravitational interactions disturb particles at the ring’s edges and contribute to its changing strands and kinks.
The F ring is one of Saturn’s narrowest and most active major rings. It lies beyond the main A ring and is especially notable for its twists, clumps, and transient features. Pandora is sometimes called an outer shepherd satellite, while Prometheus occupies the inner side of the ring.
Pandora should not be confused with Saturn’s larger moon Titan or with the mythological Pandora herself. Voyager 1 images revealed Pandora in 1980, and the moon was later studied in detail by the Cassini mission.