Aegaeon is the tiny Saturnian moon embedded in the bright arc of the G Ring.
Aegaeon orbits within the G Ring’s unusually bright arc near the ring’s inner edge. Material knocked from the moon by micrometeoroid impacts helps supply the arc, while radiation and Saturn’s magnetospheric environment help spread dust outward into the broader, faint G Ring.
Cassini images taken in 2008 revealed Aegaeon, and its discovery was announced in 2009. The moon is extremely small and elongated, making it difficult to image directly. Its orbit is locked in a 7:6 corotation resonance with Mimas, which helps confine the bright arc around the moon’s orbital region.
Anthe and Methone are sensible distractors because they are also small inner moons associated with ring arcs and resonances involving Mimas. They are not, however, the moon centered in the G Ring’s bright arc. Aegaeon is often described as the smallest known Saturnian moon outside the main rings.