Welcome Saturn's 60th moon
2007-07-23 09:48
Paris - There's mighty Jupiter, dubbed after the paramount god of Roman mythology; Pluto, whose name was inspired by the god of the underworld. Mercury's title is bestowed in honour of the winged messenger.
Then there's Frank.
The oddball name has been temporarily given to Saturn's 60th moon, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Friday.
The newly-discovered satellite of the Solar System's second largest planet was spotted by astronomers led by Carl Murray of Queen Mary College at the University of London.
Using the powerful US-European probe Cassini, which is in orbit around the ringed giant, the team spotted "a very faint dot" near the moons of Methone and Pallene in images that were taken on May 30 this year, ESA said in a press release.
'Another new world to explore'
Looking back on previous images, they found a match on previous Cassini flybys spanning from June 2004 to June 2007.
Frank is about 2km across and, like other Saturnian moons, appears to consist mainly of ice and rock.
"When the Cassini mission launched back in 1997, we knew of only 18 moons orbiting Saturn," Murray was quoted in a press release by Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as saying.
"Now, between Earth-based telescopes and Cassini we have more than tripled that number - and each and every new discovery adds another piece to the puzzle and becomes another new world to explore."
Frank's name is only a working monicker for the moon, until a more appropriate title is confirmed by the Paris-based International Astronomical Union (IAU).
To date, 48 moons of Saturn have been officially named.
In alphabetic order, they are: Aegir, Albiorix, Atlas, Bebhionn, Bergelmir, Bestla, Calypso, Daphnis, Dione, Enceladus, Epimetheus, Erriapo, Farbauti, Fenrir, Fornjot, Hati, Helene, Hyperion, Hyrokkin, Iapetus, Ijiraq, Janus, Kari, Kiviuq, Loge, Methone, Mimas, Mundilfari, Narvi, Paaliaq, Pallene, Pan, Pandora, Phoebe, Polydeuces, Prometheus, Rhea, Siarnaq, Skadi, Skoll, Surtur, Suttung, Tarvos, Telesto, Tethys, Thrym, Titan and Ymir.
Those awaiting a name are given an official denomination in figures, based on the year in which they were discovered.