Telesto
From Space Wiki
| File:Telesto cassini closeup.jpg Click for Description | |||||||
| Discovery | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovered by | Smith, Reitsema, Larson and Fountain | ||||||
| Discovered in | April 8, 1980 | ||||||
| Orbital characteristics | |||||||
| Semimajor axis | 294,619 km | ||||||
| Eccentricity | 0.000 | ||||||
| Orbital period | 1.887802 d [1] | ||||||
| Inclination | 1.19° (to Saturn's equator) | ||||||
| Is a satellite of | Saturn | ||||||
| Physical characteristics | |||||||
| Mean diameter | 24 km (either 30×16×16 or 34×22×22 km) | ||||||
| Mass | ? kg | ||||||
| Mean density | ? g/cm3 | ||||||
| Surface gravity | ? m/s2 | ||||||
| Rotation period | synchronous | ||||||
| Axial tilt | zero | ||||||
| Albedo | ? | ||||||
| Surface temperature |
| ||||||
| Atmosphere | none | ||||||
Telesto (tə-les'-toe, IPA /təˈlɛsto/, Greek Τελεστώ) is a moon of Saturn. It was discovered by Smith, Reitsema, Larson and Fountain in 1980 from ground-based observations, and was designated 1980 S 13. In 1983 it was officially named after Telesto of Greek mythology. It is also designated as Saturn XIII.
Telesto is co-orbital with Tethys, residing in Tethys' leading Lagrangian point (L4). The moon Calypso resides in Tethys' trailing Lagrangian point (L5).
The Cassini probe performed a distant flyby of Telesto on October 11, 2005. The resulting images show that its surface is surprisingly smooth, devoid of small impact craters.
[edit] External links
| edit Saturn's natural satellites |
|---|
| Pan | Daphnis | Atlas | Prometheus | S/2004 S 6 | S/2004 S 4 | S/2004 S 3 | Pandora | Epimetheus and Janus |
| Mimas | Methone | Pallene | Enceladus | Telesto, Tethys, and Calypso | Polydeuces, Dione, and Helene | Rhea |
| Titan | Hyperion | Iapetus | Kiviuq | Ijiraq | Phoebe | Paaliaq | Skathi | Albiorix | S/2004 S 11 | Erriapo | Siarnaq |
| S/2004 S 13 | Tarvos | Mundilfari | S/2004 S 17 | Narvi | S/2004 S 15 | S/2004 S 10 | Suttungr | S/2004 S 12 |
| S/2004 S 18 | S/2004 S 9 | S/2004 S 14 | S/2004 S 7 | Thrymr | S/2004 S 16 | Ymir | S/2004 S 8 |
| See also: Pronunciation key | Rings of Saturn | Cassini-Huygens | Themis |
