Astronomy:Telesto (moon)

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Short description: Trojan moon of Saturn
Telesto
Telesto N1507754980 2 crop.png
Telesto as seen by the Cassini probe on 11 October 2005
Discovery
Discovered by
  • Bradford A. Smith
  • Harold Reitsema
  • Stephen M. Larson
  • John W. Fountain
Discovery dateApril 8, 1980
Designations
Designation
Saturn XIII
Pronunciation/təˈlɛst/
Named afterΤελεστώ Telestō
Tethys B
S/1980 S 13
AdjectivesTelestoan /tɛləˈst.ən/ or Telestoian /tɛləˈst.iən/
Orbital characteristics
295000 km[1]
Eccentricity0.001[1]
Orbital period1.887802 d[1]
Inclination1.19° (to Saturn's equator)
Satellite ofSaturn
GroupL4 Tethys trojan
Physical characteristics
Dimensions33.2 × 23.4 × 19.2 km
(± 0.6 × 0.6 × 0.4 km)[2](p2)
Mean diameter24.6±0.6 km[2](p2)
Volume7795 km3[lower-alpha 1]
Mass≈ 4×1015 kg (assumed; unmeasured)[lower-alpha 2]
Mean density≈ 0.5 g/cm3 (assumed; unmeasured)[2](p3)
≈ 0.0011–0.0014 m/s2[2](p3)
≈ 0.006 km/s at longest axis
to ≈ 0.007 km/s at poles
Axial tiltzero
Apparent magnitude18.7 [3]


Telesto /təˈlɛst/ is a moon of Saturn. It was discovered by Smith, Reitsema, Larson and Fountain in 1980 from ground-based observations, and was provisionally designated S/1980 S 13.[4] In the following months, several other apparitions were observed: S/1980 S 24,[5] S/1980 S 33,[6] and S/1981 S 1.[7]

In 1983 it was officially named after Telesto of Greek mythology.[lower-alpha 3] It is also designated as Saturn XIII or Tethys B.

Telesto is co-orbital with Tethys, residing in Tethys' leading Lagrangian point (L4). This relationship was first identified by Seidelmann Harrington et al. 1981}}|Seidelmann et al. in 1981.[8] Another moon, Calypso, resides in the other (trailing) Lagrangian point of Tethys, 60 degrees in the other direction from Tethys. The Saturnian system has two additional trojan moons.

Exploration

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.

Notes

  1. Calculated from Telesto's volume-equivalent sphere radius of 12.3±0.3 km given by Thomas et al. (2020)[2](p2)
  2. Calculated by multiplying Telesto's volume with its assumed density of 500 kg/m3.
  3. Transactions of the International Astronomical Union, Vol. XVIIIA, 1982 (confirms Janus, names Epimetheus, Telesto, Calypso) (mentioned in IAUC 3872)

References

Citations

Sources

External links