Bestla (moon) facts for kids
Bestla (also called Saturn XXXIX) is one of the many moons that orbit the giant planet Saturn. It was first spotted by a team of astronomers led by Scott S. Sheppard. They announced their discovery on May 4, 2005, after studying observations made between December 2004 and March 2005.
What is Bestla Like?
Bestla is a small moon, only about 7 kilometres wide. To give you an idea, that's roughly the length of 70 football fields! It travels around Saturn very far away, at an average distance of almost 20 million kilometres.
Bestla takes a long time to complete one trip around Saturn. It takes about 1053 days, which is almost three years!
Bestla's Unique Orbit
Bestla's path around Saturn is quite special. It has a very unusual orbit compared to other moons.
- Inclination: Bestla's orbit is tilted a lot. Its inclination is about 147 degrees compared to the ecliptic (the plane where most planets orbit the Sun). This means it doesn't orbit Saturn in the same flat plane as many other moons.
- Eccentricity: Bestla also has a very "stretched out" or oval-shaped orbit. Scientists call this its eccentricity. Bestla's eccentricity is 0.772, which is very high. In fact, it has the most eccentric (most stretched out) orbit of any moon in our entire Solar System! This means its distance from Saturn changes a lot during its journey.
Where Bestla Got Its Name
Bestla was officially named in April 2007. It gets its name from Bestla, a character in Norse mythology. In these ancient stories, Bestla is a powerful frost giantess, who is the mother of the important god Odin.
