Key facts
- Scale fact
- 219 kmmaximum extent
- Composition
- Water ice, rock and dark carbon-rich material
Phoebe
219 kmmaximum extent
Visual creditCassini 2004 / NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute / Public domainSource: Wikimedia Commons
Details
Phoebe is a dark irregular moon of Saturn with a distant, retrograde orbit. Cassini's 2004 flyby showed a battered icy-rocky body that may be a captured outer Solar System object, making Phoebe a clue to material beyond Saturn's regular moons.
Phoebe follows a distant, inclined and retrograde orbit, strong evidence that it did not form with Saturn’s regular moons. Cassini’s June 2004 flyby resolved a dark, cratered mixture of ice, rock and carbon-rich material. The orbit and surface are consistent with capture from the outer Solar System—possibly of a Centaur—but do not identify a unique birthplace.
Links
- Universe journey
- Asteroid belt & Jupiter
- Wikipedia
- Phoebe on Wikipedia
Size neighbors
Objects near Phoebe on the scale
Sources
References for Phoebe
Measurements and descriptive context are compiled by the Scale of Space team from the references below. If you find an error, please let us know.
- Phoebe — Wikipedia
- Visual reference: Wikimedia Commons (Cassini 2004 / NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute, Public domain)
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About
Scale of Space is a scroll-based journey through the universe, placing objects on a single logarithmic scale so you can compare size across an unbroken range.
Guides explain selected parts of that range, while focused views filter the objects by subject.