Telesto

Telesto

Telesto as seen by the Cassini probe in October 2005
Discovery
Discovered by	Smith, Reitsema, Larson, Fountain
Discovery date	April 8, 1980
Orbital characteristics
Semi-major axis	294,619 km
Eccentricity	0.000
Orbital period	1.887802 d[1]
Inclination	1.19° (to Saturn's equator)
Satellite of	Saturn
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	29 × 22 × 20 km³ [2]
Mean radius	11.8 ± 1.0 km[2]
Rotation period	synchronous
Axial tilt	zero
Apparent magnitude	18.7[3]

Telesto (pronounced /tɨˈlɛstoʊ/ tə-LES-toe, or as Greek Τελεστώ) is a moon of Saturn. It was discovered by Smith, Reitsema, Larson and Fountain in 1980 from ground-based observations, and was provisionally designated S/1980 S 13.^[4] In the following months, several other apparitions were observed: S/1980 S 24^[5] S/1980 S 33,^[6] and S/1981 S 1.^[7]

In 1983 it was officially named after Telesto of Greek mythology.^[8] It is also designated as Saturn XIII or Tethys B.

Telesto is co-orbital with Tethys, residing in Tethys' leading Lagrangian point (L₄). This relationship was first identified by Seidelmann et al.^[9] The moon Calypso also resides in the other (trailing) lagrangian point of Tethys, 60 degrees in the other direction from Tethys.

The Cassini probe performed a distant flyby of Telesto on October 11, 2005. The resulting images show that its surface is surprisingly smooth, devoid of small impact craters.

References

External links

• Telesto Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
• The Planetary Society: Telesto