• Brave Little Hitachi Wand@feddit.uk
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    19 hours ago

    Selections from Wikipedia, for others who may find it interesting:

    Daphnis’s eccentricity causes its distance from Saturn to vary by ~9 km (5.6 mi), and its inclination causes it to move up and down by ~17 km (11 mi).

    As it orbits, it creates gravitational ripples on the edges of the Keeler gap as ring particles are attracted toward the moon and then fall back down toward the ring. The waves made by the moon in the inner edge of the gap precede it in orbit, while those on the outer edge lag behind it, due to the differences in relative orbital speed. In a photograph taken on January 18, 2017, a tendril of ring particles can be seen to extend toward the moon; according to JPL, “this may have resulted from a moment when Daphnis drew a packet of material out of the ring, and now that packet is spreading itself out.”

    Also, it little resembles any moon I have seen. It is more akin to a fat grain of rice.