Kiviuq (moon)

Brett Gladman et al.

Kiviuq ( Saturn XXIV) is one of the smaller outer moons of the planet Saturn.

Discovery

The discovery of Kiviuq 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 August 7 to 4 November 2000, announced on 18 November 2000. Kiviuq first received the provisional designation S/2000 S 5 was named after the moon Kiviuq, a hero of epic stories in the world of the Inuit in the Arctic regions of Canada, Alaska and Greenland.

Path data

Kiviuq orbiting Saturn on an eccentric orbit at an average distance of 11,365,000 km in about 449 days and 17 hours. The orbital eccentricity is 0.3336, the web is highly inclined with 46.148 ° to the ecliptic. Kiviuq belongs to the Inuit group of Saturn's moons.

Structure and physical data

Kiviuq has a diameter of 14 km. Its density is 2.5 g/cm3 compared to the other Saturn moons relatively high. He is probably composed of water ice with a high proportion of silicate rock. He has a very dark surface with an albedo of 0.06, that is, only 6% of the incident sunlight is reflected. From Earth, seen he is an extremely light faint object with an apparent magnitude of 22.0 m. The rotation period was measured by the Cassini - Huygens spacecraft is about 21 hours and 49 minutes in duration unusually long.