Key facts
- Category
- Moons
- Object class
- Shepherd moon
- Composition
- Porous water ice
- Temperature
- 74 K surface
Prometheus
137 kmmaximum extent
Explore Prometheus to scaleVisual creditCassini 2010 / NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute / Public domainSource: Wikimedia Commons
Details
Prometheus is a porous, elongated inner moon of Saturn that shepherds the inner edge of the planet's narrow F ring. Cassini images show its gravity drawing streamers from the ring and leaving kinks and dark channels in the material behind it.
Prometheus travels along the inner edge of Saturn’s F ring, where its gravity helps confine the ring’s main strand. Cassini watched each close passage draw streamers from the ring and leave temporary channels and kinks in the icy material. The moon itself is elongated and cratered; its estimated low density indicates a porous, ice-rich body, while more specific formation scenarios remain model-dependent.
Links
- Wikipedia
- Prometheus on Wikipedia
Size neighbors
Objects near Prometheus on the scale
On the logarithmic size axis, Prometheus falls between Epimetheus and Puck. The band uses nearby Shepherd moon records.
Shared physical scale
105km
Sources
References for Prometheus
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.
- Prometheus — Wikipedia
- Visual reference: Wikimedia Commons (Cassini 2010 / 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.