Janus (moon) facts for kids
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Janus as imaged by Cassini on April 7, 2010: highest-resolution full-disk image to date
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| Discovery | |
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| Discovered by | Audouin Dollfus |
| Discovery date | 15 December 1966 |
| Designations | |
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Named after
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Janus |
| Adjectives | Janian |
Janus is a moon of Saturn. It was discovered by Audouin Dollfus in 1966. Astronomers were first mistaken that another moon, Epimetheus, was the same as Janus. Voyager 1 confirmed in 1980 that there were two moons that share the same orbit.
Name
Janus is named after the two-faced Roman god Janus. Although the name was informally proposed soon after the initial 1966 discovery, it was not officially adopted until 1983, when Epimetheus was also named. It is also known as Saturn X
Physical characteristics
Janus is extensively cratered with several craters larger than 30 km, but has few linear features. Janus's surface appears to be older than Prometheus's but younger than Pandora's.
Janus has a very low density and relatively high albedo, meaning that it is likely very icy and porous (a rubble pile).
Images for kids
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Epimetheus (lower left) and Janus (right) seen on 20 March 2006, two months after swapping orbits. The two moons appear close only because of foreshortening; in reality, Janus is about 40,000 km farther from Cassini than Epimetheus.
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Janus as viewed by Voyager 2 (1981-08-25).
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Janus and Prometheus lie above and below Saturn's rings (2006-04-29).
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Janus and Tethys (foreground) near Saturn's rings (2015-10-27).
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Janus in front of Saturn as imaged by Cassini (2006-09-25).
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Janus as imaged by Cassini (2008-02-20).
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Crescent Janus (2008-06-30).
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See also
In Spanish: Jano (satélite) para niños
