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Significance
============
Pan is the innermost of Saturn's known moons. It orbits near the
middle of the 320-km-wide Encke Gap in Saturn's A Ring, and is
believed to 'shepherd' it open.
History
=======
The existence of a moon embedded in Saturn's Encke Gap was first
proposed by [CUZZI&SCARGLE1985]. They noticed that the gap has
wavy edges in the finest-resolution Voyager images, and showed how
these wavy edges could be the results of gravitational
perturbations from one or more nearby moons. Shortly thereafter,
[SHOWALTERETAL1986] were studying other wavelike patterns in the
occultation data from the Voyager photopolarimeter and radio
science experiments. They were able to explain these patterns as
the gravitational 'wake' of the same moon. In the process, they
were able to show that only a single major moon could be present
in the gap, and derived reliable estimates of its orbit and mass.
Finally, [SHOWALTER1991] used this orbit to perform a systematic
search through the Voyager images and determine exactly which ones
should have captured the moon; Pan was visible in the first image
examined.
Pan was named after the Greek god of shepherds, because it is
believed to keep the Encke Gap open via the process widely known
as 'shepherding.'
Description
===========
Pan was never resolved spatially in any images. Its mass is
estimated from its gravitational effects on the ring. Assuming a
water ice composition, the implied radius is 10 km. Pan's
disk-integrated brightness is also consistent with this radius,
assuming a plausible surface albedo of 0.4-0.6. Nothing is known
about its shape or rotation period, although it is expected to be
in sychronous rotation.
Pan Quick-Look Statistics
=========================
Discovery: July 1990, by Mark Showalter
Diameter (km): ~20
Mass (kg): 3e15 - 6e15
Mass (Earth = 1): 5e-10 - 1e-9
Surface Gravity (Earth = 1): UNK
Mean Distance from Saturn (km): 133583.
Mean Distance From Saturn (Rs): 2.2142
Mean Distance from Sun (AU): 9.5388
Orbital period (days): 0.575039
Rotational period (days): 0.575039
Density (gm/cm**3) ~1
Orbit Eccentricity: 0.
Orbit Inclination (degrees): 0.?
Orbit Speed (km/sec): 16.8935
Escape velocity (km/sec): UNK
Visual Albedo: 0.4 - 0.6
Surface Composition: Water ice
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