Skathi (moon)

Brett Gladman et al.

Skathi ( Saturn XXVII) is one of the smaller outer moons of the planet Saturn.

Discovery

The discovery of Skathi by a team consisting of Brett Gladman, John J. Kavelaars, Jean -Marc Petit, Hans Scholl, Matthew J. Holman, Brian G. Marsden, Philip D. Nicholson, Joseph A. Burns on recordings from September 23 until 27 November 2000, announced on 7 December 2000. Skathi first received the provisional designation S/2000 S 8

It was named after the moon Skathi, a giantess from Norse mythology. Often the term Skadi is used for the moon, this name was also initially published. However, the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature ( WGPSN ) of the International Astronomical Union ( IAU) decided later to use the original Norse spelling.

Path data

Skathi orbiting Saturn on an eccentric orbit at an average distance of 15,641,000 km in about 728 days and 4 hours. The orbital eccentricity is 0.2690. The orbit is inclined 152.621 ° to the ecliptic and is therefore decreasing, that is, the moon runs contrary to the direction of rotation of Saturn around the planet.

Structure and physical data

Skathi has a diameter of only 6 km. Their density is 2.3 g/cm3 with compared to the other Saturn moons relatively high. It is probably composed of water ice with a high proportion of silicate rock. It has a very dark surface with an albedo of 0.06, that is, only 6% of the incident sunlight is reflected. With an apparent magnitude of 23.6 m, it is a very light faint object.

Skathi could possibly be a fragment of the moon Phoebe, which was blown off with a impact event.