Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Helene (moon)
| |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Laques and Lecacheux |
| Discovered in | 1980 |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Semimajor axis | 377,400 km |
| Eccentricity | 0.0022 |
| Orbital period | 65h 41m 05s |
| Inclination | 0.02° |
| Satellite of | Saturn |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Mean diameter | 32 km (36 × 32 × 30) |
| Mass | ?kg |
| Mean density | ? g/cm3 |
| Surface gravity | ?m/s2 |
| Escape velocity | ?km/s |
| Rotation period | ? |
| Axial tilt | ?° |
| Albedo | ? |
| Surface temperature | ? K |
| Atmosphere | none |
Helene (hel'-e-nee, Greek ‘Ελένη) is a moon of Saturn. It was discovered by Pierre Laques and Jean Lecacheux in 1980 from ground-based observations at Pic du Midi Observatory, and was designated S/1980 S 6. In 1988 it was officially named after Helene of Greek mythology. It is also designated as Saturn XII.
It is co-orbital with Dione and located in its leading Lagrangian point (L4) and hence, before it received its permanent name of "Helene" it was usually referred to as "Dione B".
External links
10-26-2009 08:16:03
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The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details