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| Discovery | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovered by | William Herschel | ||||||
| Discovered in | 1789 | ||||||
| Orbital characteristics | |||||||
| Semimajor axis | 238,020 km | ||||||
| Eccentricity | 0.0045 | ||||||
| Orbital period | 32h 53m 07s | ||||||
| Inclination | 0.02° | ||||||
| Satellite of | Saturn | ||||||
| Physical characteristics | |||||||
| Mean diameter | 498.8 km | ||||||
| Mass | 8.6x1019 kg | ||||||
| Mean density | 1.3 g/cm3 | ||||||
| Surface gravityThis article covers the physics of gravitation. See also gravity (disambiguation). Gravitation is the tendency of masses to move toward each other. The first mathematical formulation of the theory of gravitation was made by Sir Isaac Newton and proved ast | 0.079 m/s2In physics, acceleration (symbol: a is defined as the rate of change (or time derivative) of velocity. It is thus a vector quantity with dimension length/ timeČ. In SI units, this is metre/secondČ. To accelerate an object is to change its velocity over a | ||||||
| Escape velocityFor the video game title, see Escape Velocity (computer game). In physics, for a given gravitational field and a given position, the escape velocity is the minimum speed an object without propulsion, at that position, needs to have to move away indefinite | 716 km/h | ||||||
| Rotation periodprograde planet like the Earth, the sidereal day is shorter than the solar day. At time 1, the sun and a certain distant star are both overhead. At time 2, the planet has rotated 360° and the distant star is overhead again (1→2 one sidereal day). | 32h 53m 07s ( synchronousIn astronomy, synchronous rotation is a planetological term describing a body orbiting another, where the orbiting body takes as long to rotate on its axis as it does to make one orbit; and therefore always keeps the same hemisphere pointed at the body it) | ||||||
| Axial tiltAxial tilt is an astronomical term regarding the inclination angle of a planet's rotation axis in relation to its orbital plane. It is also called obliquity . A planet whose rotation axis were perpendicular to the orbital plane would have an axial tilt of | 0° | ||||||
| AlbedoNote: This article discusses the physical or planetological property of albedo. For other usage, see Albedo (disambiguation). The albedo is a measure of reflectivity of a surface or body. It is the ratio of electromagnetic radiation reflected to the amoun | 0.99 | ||||||
| Surface temperatureTemperature is the physical property of a system which underlies the common notions of "hot" and "cold"; the material with the higher temperature is said to be hotter. General description The formal properties of temperature are studied in thermodynamics. |
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| Atmosphere | none | ||||||
Enceladus ("en SELL uh duss") is a moon of Saturn discovered in 1789 by William Herschel. It is named after the mythological Enceladus. It is also designated Saturn II.
The name "Enceladus" and the names of all seven satellites of Saturn then known were suggested by Herschel's son John Herschel in his 1847 publication Results of Astronomical Observations made at the Cape of Good Hope. [1]
The Cassini orbiter is due to perform a flyby of Enceladus on February 17 2005.