This sequence of 100 sec exposures taken with HST's Wide Field and Planetary Camera (WFPC2) in planetary mode on 10 August 1995 shows three of the smaller satellites of Saturn, as well as the newly discovered object 1995S5. Epimetheus is the smaller co-orbital satellite and about 120 km in diameter, while 88 km diameter Pandora is the outer shepherd satellite of the narrow F Ring. 1995S5 appears as a faint smudge in the plane of the rings. The outward orbital motions of Pandora and 1995S5 are apparent, as are the displacements of Epimetheus and Mimas to the north and south of the ring plane, due to the slight inclinations of their orbits relative to Saturn's equator. The brightness of 1995S5 is consistent with an object of diameter 50 km or less.
These images were obtained approximately one hour before the Earth crossed Saturn's ring plane and an 8922 A methane band filter was used to reduce the scattered light from the planet. An average of several earlier frames was subtracted from each image to remove the edge-on rings, and so reveal the fainter satellites. Some residual artifacts of this subtraction process are visible. Structure on the planet is due to cloud features which changed position as the planet rotated. Unlabelled bright spots and streaks are due to cosmic ray hits on the detector.
Credits
Phil Nicholson (Cornell University), Mark Showalter (NASA-Ames/Stanford) and NASA| About The Object | |
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| Object Name | Saturn, Epimetheus, Pandora, Mimas |
| About The Object | |
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| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
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| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
