| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovery site | Subaru,Gemini Jan T. Kleyna Brian G. Marsden |
| Designations | |
Designation | Saturn XLI |
| Pronunciation | /ˈfɛnrɪər/[2] or/ˈfɛnrər/[3] |
Named after | Fenrir |
| S/2004 S 16[1][4] | |
| Adjectives | Fenrian/ˈfɛnriən/[a] |
| Orbital characteristics[5] | |
| 22 454 000 km | |
| Eccentricity | 0.1363 |
| 1260.35 d (3.45yr) | |
| 146.614° | |
| Inclination | 164.955° |
| 330.95° | |
| 120.264° | |
| Satellite of | Saturn |
| Group | Norse group |
| Physical characteristics[6] | |
| 4 km | |
| Albedo | 0.06 (assumed) |
| 25.0 | |
| 15.9 | |
Fenrir/ˈfɛnrɪər/, orSaturn XLI (provisional designationS/2004 S 16), is anatural satellite of Saturn. Its discovery was announced byScott S. Sheppard,David C. Jewitt,Jan Kleyna, andBrian G. Marsden on May 4, 2005, from observations taken between December 13, 2004, and March 5, 2005. Fenrir has anapparent magnitude of 25,[7] making it one of the faintest known moons in the Solar System, and was discovered using some of the largest telescopes in the world.[1] It is even too dark to have been observed by theCassini spacecraft when it was in orbit aroundSaturn, for which it never got brighter than approximately 17th apparent magnitude.[8] Fenrir was named afterFenrir, a giant wolf fromNorse mythology, father ofHati andSkoll, son ofLoki, destined to break its bonds forRagnarök.
Fenrir is about 4 kilometres in diameter,[7] and orbits Saturn at an average distance of 22,454 Mm in 1260 days, at aninclination of 163° to theecliptic (143° to Saturn's equator) with aneccentricity of 0.136. The Fenrian orbit isretrograde: it orbits Saturn in a direction opposite to the planet's spin, suggesting that thisirregular moon was captured by Saturn.[9]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Moons | |
| Astronomy | |
| Exploration | |
| Related | |
| Planetary satellites of |    | |
|---|---|---|
| Dwarf planet satellites of | ||
| Minor-planet moons | ||
| Ranked by size | ||
Listed in approximate increasing distance from Saturn | |||||||||
| Inner ring moons | |||||||||
| Co-orbitals | |||||||||
| Ring-embedded moons | |||||||||
| Major moons (withtrojans) | |||||||||
| Inuit group (36) |
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| Gallic group (17) | |||||||||
| Norse group (197) |
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| See also | |||||||||
