- S/2004 S 3
nowrap|S/2004 S 3 is the provisional designation of an object seen orbiting Saturn just beyond the outer strand of the
F ring on21 June ,2004 . It was discovered by the [http://ciclops.org/team/iss_team.php Cassini Imaging Science Team] in images taken by theCassini-Huygens probe onJune 21 ,2004 , and announced onSeptember 9 ,2004 . [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iauc/08400/08401.html IAUC 8401: "S/2004 S 3, S/2004 S 4, and R/2004 S 1"]2004 September 9 (discovery)]Despite later attempts to recover it, it has not been reliably sighted since. Notably, an imaging sequence covering an entire orbital period at 4 km resolution taken on
15 November ,2004 failed to recover the object. This suggests that it was a temporary clump of material that had disappeared by that time.Another object, nowrap|
S/2004 S 4 , was sighted nearby 5 hours later, but this time just "inside" the F Ring. Because of the differing localisation the second object was given a fresh designation, although their interpretation as a single object on a F-ring crossing orbit is also possible. Such an object might also be orbiting at a slightly different inclination to the F ring, thereby not actually passing through the ring material despite being seen both radially inward and outward of it.If a solid object after all, nowrap|S/2004 S 3 would be 3−5 km in diameter based on brightness, and might be a
shepherd satellite for the outer edge of Saturn's F ring.References
External links
* [http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press-releases-04/20040909-pr-a.cfm Cassini-Huygens press release about discoveries around the F ring in 2004]
* [http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=1700 Cassini-Huygens Multimedia: "The Clump/Moon Mystery"]September 5 ,2005 (images of the clumps and/or moons seen around the F ring by Cassini cameras)br:S/2004 S 3 bg:S/2004 S 3 da:S/2004 S 3 fr:S/2004 S 3 hr:S/2004 S 3 it:S/2004 S 3 mk:S/2004 S 3 nl:S/2004 S3 ja:S/2004 S 3 pl:S/2004 S 3 simple:S/2004 S 3 sk:S/2004 S 3 sl:S/2004 S 3 sv:S/2004 S 3 uk:S/2004 S 3 zh:S/2004 S 3
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