Moonlet

The 400-meter moonlet "Earhart" in Saturn's A Ring, just outside the Encke Gap.

Moonlet is an informal term for a particularly small natural satellite. In astronomical literature, it has been used in at least two situations:

• A belt of objects embedded in a planetary ring, as in Saturn's A Ring or S/2009 S 1 in the B Ring ("propeller" moonlets)^[1][2] or in Saturn's F Ring.^[3]
• Occasionally for asteroid moons, such as the moons of 87 Sylvia.^[4]

See also

• Natural satellite
• Rings of Saturn
• Asteroid moon

References

1. ^ Matthew S. Tiscareno et al. (2006). "100-metre-diameter moonlets in Saturn's A ring from observations of 'propeller' structures". Nature 440 (7084): 648–650. Bibcode 2006Natur.440..648T. doi:10.1038/nature04581. PMID 16572165. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v440/n7084/full/nature04581.html. 
2. ^ Miodrag Sremčević et al. (2007). "A belt of moonlets in Saturn's A ring". Nature 449 (7165): 1019–1021. Bibcode 2007Natur.449.1019S. doi:10.1038/nature06224. PMID 17960236. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7165/full/nature06224.html. 
3. ^ Carl D. Murray et al. (June 5, 2008). "The determination of the structure of Saturn's F ring by nearby moonlets". Nature 453 (7196): 739–44. Bibcode 2008Natur.453..739M. doi:10.1038/nature06999. PMID 18528389. http://www.stfc.ac.uk/PMC/PRel/STFC/CassColl.aspx. 
4. ^ F. Marchis et al. (2005). "Discovery of the triple asteroidal system 87 Sylvia". Nature 436 (7052): 822–4. Bibcode 2005Natur.436..822M. doi:10.1038/nature04018. PMID 16094362. 

Further reading

• Google Book Search for "moonlet"