File:Calypso_N1644755236_1.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Calypso
Sign in to saveAlso known as Saturn XIV, Tethys C, S/1980 S 25, S/1980 S 29, S/1980 S 30, S/1980 S 32, S/1981 S 2
moon of Saturn
Calypso is a small moon that orbits Saturn, discovered in 1980. It is scientifically interesting because it shares the same orbital path as two larger Saturnian moons, making it a rare example of this type of celestial arrangement in our solar system.
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Wikidata facts
- Diameter
- 21.4
- Mass
- 2.5
- Orbital period
- 1.887802
- Image
- Calypso N1644755236 1.jpg
Show 7 more facts
- Commons category
- Calypso (moon)
- time of discovery or invention
- 1980-03-13
- provisional designation
- S/1980 S 25
- orbital eccentricity
- 0.000
- albedo
- 1.34
- semi-major axis of an orbit
- 294700
- orbital inclination
- 1.56
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Article
Calypso is a natural satellite of Saturn. It was discovered in 1980, from ground-based observations, by Dan Pascu, P. Kenneth Seidelmann, William A. Baum, and Douglas G. Currie, and was provisionally designated S/1980 S 25 (the 25th satellite of Saturn discovered in 1980). Several other apparitions of it were recorded in the following months: S/1980 S 29, S/1980 S 30, S/1980 S 32, and S/1981 S 2. In 1983 it was officially named after Calypso of Greek mythology. It is also designated Saturn XIV or Tethys C.
Calypso is co-orbital with the moon Tethys, and resides in Tethys's trailing Lagrangian point (L5), 60 degrees behind Tethys. This relationship was first identified by Seidelmann et al. in 1981. The moon Telesto resides in the other (leading) Lagrangian point of Tethys, 60 degrees in the other direction from Tethys. Calypso and Telesto have been termed "Tethys trojans", by analogy to the trojan asteroids, and are half of the four presently known trojan moons.