Discovery | |
---|---|
Discovered by | Gladman et al. |
Discovery date | 2000 |
Designations | |
Designation | Saturn XXV |
Pronunciation | Icelandic: [ˈmʏntɪlvarɪ][a] |
Named after | Mundilfari |
S/2000 S 9 | |
Orbital characteristics[1] | |
18590300 km | |
Eccentricity | 0.210 |
−952.95 days | |
Inclination | 168.4° |
Satellite of | Saturn |
Group | Norse group |
Physical characteristics | |
Dimensions | 11.78 × 7 × 5.86 km (modeled)[2] |
7+50% −30% km[3] | |
6.74±0.08 hours[3] | |
Albedo | 0.06 (assumed)[4] |
Spectral type | P |
23.8[5][4] | |
14.5[4] | |
Mundilfari, or Saturn XXV, is a natural satellite of Saturn. It was discovered by Brett J. Gladman, et al. in 2000, and given the temporary designation S/2000 S 9. Mundilfari is about 7 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Saturn at an average distance of 18,5903 Mm in 952.95 days, at an inclination of 168.4° to the ecliptic, in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.210.[1]
Mundilfari may have formed from debris knocked off Phoebe by large impacts at some point in the Solar System's history. With a spectral slope of −5.0%/100 , Mundilfari is the bluest of all the moons studied by Grav and Bauer (2007), slightly more so than Phoebe (−2.5%/100 nm) and about as blue as Erriapus (+5.1%/100 nm) is red.[6] Its rotation period is 6.74±0.08 hours, the second-fastest among all the irregular moons studied by Cassini–Huygens after Hati,[3] and it appears to be very elongated in shape.[4]
It was named in August 2003 from Norse mythology, where Mundilfari is the father of the goddess Sól (Sun) and the god Máni (Moon).
Geography | |
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Moons | |
Astronomy | |
Exploration | |
Related | |
Natural satellites of the Solar System | ||
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Planetary satellites of | ||
Dwarf planet satellites of | ||
Minor-planet moons | ||
Ranked by size | ||
Listed in approximately increasing distance from Saturn | |||||||
Ring moonlets | |||||||
Ring shepherds | |||||||
Other inner moons | |||||||
Alkyonides | |||||||
Large moons (with trojans) | |||||||
Inuit group (12) |
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Gallic group (7) | |||||||
Norse group (100) |
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Outlier prograde irregular moons | |||||||