Paaliaq_(moon)

Paaliaq

Paaliaq

Moon of Saturn


Paaliaq is a prograde irregular satellite of Saturn. It was discovered by J. J. Kavelaars, Brett J. Gladman, Jean-Marc Petit, Hans Scholl, Matthew J. Holman, Brian G. Marsden, Philip D. Nicholson and Joseph A. Burns in early October 2000,[6][7][8] and given the temporary designation S/2000 S 2. It was named in August 2003 after a fictional shaman in the book The Curse of the Shaman, written by Michael Kusugak, who supplied Kavelaars with the names of giants from Inuit mythology that were used for other Saturnian moons.[9]

Quick Facts Discovery, Discovered by ...

Paaliaq is thought to be about 29 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Saturn at an average distance of 15.0 million km in 687 days. It is a member of the Inuit group of irregular satellites. It also has a proximity with 9 other moons reaching up to ten miles from each.[clarification needed]

It is light red in color, and in the infrared the Paaliapian (Paaliaqan)[lower-alpha 1] spectrum is very similar to the Inuit-group satellites Kiviuq and Siarnaq, supporting the thesis of a possible common origin of the Inuit group in the break-up of a larger body.[5][10] Its light curve has an unusual pattern of four minima, suggesting that it has a very peculiar shape.[4]

Paaliaq imaged by the CFHT on 23 September 2000

Notes

  1. The genitive form of Paaliaq is Paaliap. Thus the adjectival form could be absolutive Paaliaqian or genitive Paaliapian, parallel to nominative Venusian and genitive Venerian for Venus. See Inuktitut morphology

References

  1. Discovery Circumstances (JPL)
  2. "Planetary Satellite Mean Elements". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov.
  3. Emelyanov, N. V.; Varfolomeev, M. I.; Lainey, V. (24 March 2022). "New ephemerides of outer planetary satellites". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 512 (2): 2044–2050. doi:10.1093/mnras/stac586.
  4. Denk, Tilmann; Mottola, Stefano; Tosi, Frederico; Bottke, William F.; Hamilton, Douglas P. (2018). "The Irregular Satellites of Saturn" (PDF). In Schenk, Paul M.; Clark, Roger N.; Howett, Carly J. A.; Verbiscer, Anne J.; Waite, J. Hunter (eds.). Enceladus and the Icy Moons of Saturn. Space Science Series. Vol. 322. Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press. pp. 409–434. Bibcode:2018eims.book..409D. doi:10.2458/azu_uapress_9780816537075-ch020. ISBN 9780816537075.
  5. Kavelaars, J. J.; Holman, M. J.; Grav, T.; Milisavljevic, D.; Fraser, W.; Gladman, B. J.; Petit, J. -M.; Rousselot, P.; Mousis, O.; Nicholson, P. D. (2004-06-01). "The discovery of faint irregular satellites of Uranus". Icarus. 169 (2): 474. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.01.009. ISSN 0019-1035 via ScienceDirect.
  6. "IAUC 7512: S/2000 S 1, S/2000 S 2". www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu. 25 October 2000.
  7. Petten, Cheryl. "Naming Saturn's moons". Ammsa.com. Aboriginal Multi-Media Society. The fourth name, Paaliaq, is a character Kusugak created in his latest book, Marble Island-The Curse of the Shaman, which Kusugak is currently trying to get published. The characters Kiviuq and Siarnaq are also found in the book.
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