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Hyrrokkin (moon)

Hyrrokkin
Hyrrokkin imaged by the Cassini spacecraft in March 2013
Discovery
Discovered byScott S. Sheppard
David C. Jewitt
Jan T. Kleyna
Brian G. Marsden
Discovery dateDecember 2004
Designations
Designation
Saturn XLIV
Named after
Hyrrokkin
S/2004 S 19
Orbital characteristics[1]
18437000 km
Eccentricity0.333
−931.8 days
Inclination151.4°
Satellite ofSaturn
GroupNorse group
Physical characteristics[2][3]
8+50%
−30% km
12.76±0.03 h
Albedo0.06 (assumed)
Spectral type
g – r = 0.50 ± 0.08, r – i = 0.34 ± 0.09[4]
23.5
14.3

Hyrrokkin /hɪˈrɒkən/ or Saturn XLIV is a natural satellite of Saturn. Its discovery was announced by Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, Jan Kleyna, and Brian G. Marsden on June 26, 2006, from observations taken between December 12, 2004, and April 30, 2006.

Hyrrokkin is about 8 kilometres in diameter,[5] and orbits Saturn at an average distance of 18,168 Mm in 914 days, at an inclination of 153° to the ecliptic (154° to Saturn's equator), in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.3582. During four observations in March 2013, the synodic rotational period was measured by the Cassini spacecraft to approximately 12 hours and 45 minutes. The rotation period was later refined to 12.76±0.03 hours.[2] Its light curve shows three minima as seen in Ymir and Siarnaq, but has one minimum much shallower than the others. The rotation period and orbit are similar to Greip's, with only the inclination being appreciably different, but it is not known whether the moons are closely related to each other.[3]

It was named in April 2007 after Hyrrokkin, a giantess from Norse mythology, who launched Hringhorni, Baldr's funeral ship. It was originally listed as being spelled Hyrokkin, but the spelling was later corrected.

References

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  1. ^ S.S. Sheppard (2019), Moons of Saturn, Carnegie Science, on line
  2. ^ a b Denk, T.; Mottola, S. (2019). Cassini Observations of Saturn's Irregular Moons (PDF). 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Lunar and Planetary Institute.
  3. ^ a b Denk, Tilmann; Mottola, Stefano; Tosi, Frederico; Bottke, William F.; Hamilton, Douglas P. (2018). "The Irregular Satellites of Saturn" (PDF). In Schenk, P.M.; Clark, R.N.; Howett, C.J.A.; Verbiscer, A.J.; Waite, J.H. (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.
  4. ^ Peña, José; Fuentes, Cesar (2022-05-17). "Colors of Irregular Satellites of Saturn with the Dark Energy Camera". The Astronomical Journal. 163 (6): 274. arXiv:2204.08391. Bibcode:2022AJ....163..274P. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ac6258. ISSN 1538-3881.
  5. ^ Rehnberg, Morgan (14 August 2015). "Cassini studies backwards-orbiting moon Hyrrokkin". Space Exploration Network. SEN. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
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