Space Topics: Saturn
Polydeuces (S/2004 S5)
Running Behind Dione
Size: Roughly 13 kilometers
Orbital radius: 377,400 kilometers - 6.26 Saturn radii - within
the E ring - at Dione’s leading Lagrange point (L4) - co-orbital with
Dione and Helene
Orbital period: 2.7369 days - about 1/6 of Titan’s
Discovery: 2004 by Carl Murray
Polydeuces is a tiny moon that orbits in Dione's trailing Lagrange point
(L5). That is, Polydeuces orbits Saturn on the same circular path that Dione
does, but behind of Dione, and the centers of Dione, Saturn, and Polydeuces
form an equilateral triangle.
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