Phoebe (moon) in the context of "Moons of Saturn"

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⭐ Core Definition: Phoebe (moon)

Phoebe (/ˈfiːbi/ FEE-bee) is the most massive irregular satellite of Saturn with a mean diameter of 213 km (132 mi). It was discovered by William Henry Pickering on 18 March 1899 from photographic plates that had been taken by DeLisle Stewart starting on 16 August 1898 at the Boyden Station of the Carmen Alto Observatory near Arequipa, Peru. It was the first natural satellite to be discovered photographically.

Phoebe was the first target encountered upon the arrival of the Cassini spacecraft in the Saturn system in 2004, and is thus unusually well-studied for an irregular moon of its size. Cassini's trajectory to Saturn and time of arrival were chosen to permit this flyby. After the encounter and its insertion into orbit, Cassini did not go much beyond the orbit of Iapetus.

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Phoebe (moon) in the context of Kuiper belt

The Kuiper belt (/ˈkaɪpər/ ) is a circumstellar disc in the outer Solar System, extending from the orbit of Neptune at 30 astronomical units (AU) to approximately 50 AU from the Sun. It is similar to the asteroid belt, but is far larger—20 times as wide and 20–200 times as massive. Like the asteroid belt, it consists mainly of small bodies or remnants from when the Solar System formed. While many asteroids are composed primarily of rock and metal, most Kuiper belt objects are composed largely of frozen volatiles (termed "ices"), such as methane, ammonia, and water. The Kuiper belt is home to most of the objects that astronomers generally accept as dwarf planets: Orcus, Pluto, Haumea, Quaoar, and Makemake. Some of the Solar System's moons, such as Neptune's Triton and Saturn's Phoebe, may have originated in the region.

The Kuiper belt is named in honor of the Dutch astronomer Gerard Kuiper, who conjectured the existence of a version of the belt in 1951. There were researchers before and after him who proposed similar hypoetheses, such as Kenneth Edgeworth in the 1930s. The most direct prediction of the belt was by astronomer Julio Ángel Fernández, who published a paper in 1980 suggesting the existence of a comet belt beyond Neptune which could serve as a source for short-period comets.

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Phoebe (moon) in the context of Moons of Neptune

There are 16 known moons of the planet Neptune, all of which are named after water deities and creatures in Greek mythology. The largest of them is Triton, discovered by William Lassell on 10 October 1846, 17 days after the discovery of Neptune itself. Over a century passed before the discovery of the second natural satellite, Nereid, in 1949, and another 40 years passed before Proteus, Neptune's second-largest moon, was discovered in 1989.

Triton is unique among moons of planetary mass in that its orbit is retrograde to Neptune's rotation and inclined relative to Neptune's equator, which suggests that it did not form in orbit around Neptune but was instead gravitationally captured by it. The next-largest satellite in the Solar System suspected to be captured, Saturn's moon Phoebe, has only 0.03% of Triton's mass. The capture of Triton, probably occurring some time after Neptune formed a satellite system, was a catastrophic event for Neptune's original satellites, disrupting their orbits so that they collided to form a rubble disc. Triton is massive enough to have achieved hydrostatic equilibrium and to retain a thin atmosphere capable of forming clouds and hazes.

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Phoebe (moon) in the context of Solar System object

The following is a list of Solar System objects by orbit, ordered by increasing distance from the Sun. Most named objects in this list have a diameter of 500 km or more.

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Phoebe (moon) in the context of Irregular satellite

In astronomy, an irregular moon, irregular satellite, or irregular natural satellite is a natural satellite following an orbit that is irregular in some of the following ways: Distant; inclined; highly elliptical; retrograde. They have often been captured by their parent planet, unlike regular satellites that formed in orbit around them. Irregular moons have a stable orbit, unlike temporary satellites which often have similarly irregular orbits but will eventually depart. The term does not refer to shape; Triton, for example, is a round moon but is considered irregular due to its orbit and origins.

As of April 2025, 358 irregular moons are known, orbiting all four of the outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune). The largest of each planet are Himalia of Jupiter, Phoebe of Saturn, Sycorax of Uranus, and Triton of Neptune. Triton is rather unusual for an irregular moon; if it is excluded, then Nereid is the largest irregular moon around Neptune. It is currently thought that the irregular satellites were once independent objects orbiting the Sun before being captured by a nearby planet, early in the history of the Solar System. An alternative suggests that they originated further out in the Kuiper belt and were captured after the close flyby of another star.

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Phoebe (moon) in the context of Irregular moon

In astronomy, an irregular moon, irregular satellite, or irregular natural satellite is a natural satellite following an orbit that is irregular in some of the following ways: distant; inclined; highly elliptical; retrograde. They have often been captured by their parent planet, unlike regular satellites that formed in orbit around them. Irregular moons have a stable orbit, unlike temporary satellites which often have similarly irregular orbits but will eventually depart. The term does not refer to shape; Triton, for example, is a round moon but is considered irregular due to its orbit and origins.

As of April 2025, 358 irregular moons are known, orbiting all four of the outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune). The largest of each planet are Himalia of Jupiter, Phoebe of Saturn, Sycorax of Uranus, and Triton of Neptune. Triton is rather unusual for an irregular moon; if it is excluded, then Nereid is the largest irregular moon around Neptune. It is currently thought that the irregular satellites were once independent objects orbiting the Sun before being captured by a nearby planet, early in the history of the Solar System. An alternative suggests that they originated further out in the Kuiper belt and were captured after the close flyby of another star.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Kuiper belt ← Moons of Neptune ← Kuiper Belt ← Solar System object ← Irregular satellite ← Irregular moon
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Irregular satellite → Moons of Saturn → Mean diameter → William Henry Pickering → DeLisle Stewart → Boyden Observatory → Arequipa → Peru → Natural satellite → Cassini–Huygens → Iapetus (moon) →