When was the moon Phoebe discovered?
William Henry Pickering held the first image of Phoebe on the 18th of March 1899. The glass plate had been exposed by DeLisle Stewart starting on the 16th of August 1898 at Boyden Observatory near Arequipa, Peru.
Questions about Phoebe (moon)
Short answers, pulled from the story.
How does the orbit of Phoebe differ from other moons around Saturn?
Phoebe orbits Saturn in reverse direction to the planet's rotation. This retrograde path sets it apart from all major moons except Triton and places it within the Norse group of irregular satellites that follow highly eccentric trajectories.
What is the origin of the Phoebe ring system around Saturn?
Micrometeoroid impacts eject material from Phoebe's surface into space to form a massive ring system tilted 27 degrees from Saturn's equatorial plane. The ring extends from 128 to 207 times the radius of Saturn while Phoebe orbits at 215 radii.
Did the Cassini spacecraft fly past the moon Phoebe?
The Cassini spacecraft flew past Phoebe on the 11th of June 2004 at a distance of roughly 1,900 kilometers. High-resolution images revealed a scarred surface with craters up to 100 kilometers across during this encounter.
When did the International Astronomical Union name craters on Phoebe?
The International Astronomical Union officially named 24 craters in 2006 following specific conventions. All features except Leto Regio bear names from characters in the Jason and Argonauts legend.