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Methone (moon)
Encyclopedia
Methone is a very small natural satellite
of Saturn
lying between the orbits of Mimas
and Enceladus
.
It was first seen by the Cassini Imaging Team and given the temporary designation . Methone is also named .
Methone is visibly affected by a perturbing mean longitude resonance
with the much larger Mimas. This causes its osculating orbit
al elements to vary with an amplitude of about 20 km in semi-major axis, and 5° in longitude on a timescale of about 450 days. Eccentricity also varies on different timescales between 0.0011 and 0.0037, and inclination between about 0.003° and 0.020°.
The name Methone was approved by the IAU Working Group on Planetary System Nomenclature on January 21, 2005. It was ratified at the IAU General Assembly in 2006. Methone was one of the Alkyonides
, the seven beautiful daughters of the Giant
Alkyoneus.
Natural satellite
A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....
of Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
lying between the orbits of Mimas
Mimas (moon)
Mimas is a moon of Saturn which was discovered in 1789 by William Herschel. It is named after Mimas, a son of Gaia in Greek mythology, and is also designated Saturn I....
and Enceladus
Enceladus (moon)
Enceladus is the sixth-largest of the moons of Saturn. It was discovered in 1789 by William Herschel. Until the two Voyager spacecraft passed near it in the early 1980s very little was known about this small moon besides the identification of water ice on its surface...
.
It was first seen by the Cassini Imaging Team and given the temporary designation . Methone is also named .
Methone is visibly affected by a perturbing mean longitude resonance
Orbital resonance
In celestial mechanics, an orbital resonance occurs when two orbiting bodies exert a regular, periodic gravitational influence on each other, usually due to their orbital periods being related by a ratio of two small integers. Orbital resonances greatly enhance the mutual gravitational influence of...
with the much larger Mimas. This causes its osculating orbit
Osculating orbit
In astronomy, and in particular in astrodynamics, the osculating orbit of an object in space is the gravitational Kepler orbit In astronomy, and in particular in astrodynamics, the osculating orbit of an object in space (at a given moment of time) is the gravitational Kepler orbit In astronomy,...
al elements to vary with an amplitude of about 20 km in semi-major axis, and 5° in longitude on a timescale of about 450 days. Eccentricity also varies on different timescales between 0.0011 and 0.0037, and inclination between about 0.003° and 0.020°.
The name Methone was approved by the IAU Working Group on Planetary System Nomenclature on January 21, 2005. It was ratified at the IAU General Assembly in 2006. Methone was one of the Alkyonides
Alkyonides
The Alkyonides were, in Greek mythology, the seven daughters of Alcyoneus. When their father was slain by Heracles, they threw themselves into the sea, and were transformed into halcyons by Amphitrite...
, the seven beautiful daughters of the Giant
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
Alkyoneus.