Ijiraq (moon) facts for kids
Ijiraq is one of Saturn's many moons. It's not perfectly round like Earth's Moon, but more like a potato! Scientists found Ijiraq in the year 2000. A team led by Brett Gladman and John J. Kavelaars discovered it. They first called it S/2000 S 6.
Ijiraq's Journey Around Saturn
Ijiraq travels around Saturn quite far away. It's about 11,100,000 kilometers from the planet. One full trip around Saturn takes about 451 Earth days. Its path is very similar to another moon named Kiviuq. The picture shows how Ijiraq's orbit compares to other small moons of Saturn.
What Ijiraq Looks Like
Ijiraq is part of a group of Saturn's moons called the Inuit group. These moons are not round. Recent observations show that Ijiraq looks redder than other moons in its group, like Paaliaq, Siarnaq, and Kiviuq.
How Ijiraq Got Its Name
An astronomer named Kavelaars helped name Ijiraq. He wanted to find names that were not just from ancient Greek or Roman stories. He looked for names from different cultures, especially Canadian Indigenous cultures.
In 2001, he was reading an Inuit story to his children. He realized the perfect name was Ijiraq! In the story, an ijiraq is a creature that plays hide-and-seek. This was perfect because these small moons are hard to find. They are also very cold, like the Canadian Arctic where some of the discoverers live.
Kavelaars asked the author of the story, Michael Kusugak, for permission. Kusugak also suggested names for other moons, Kiviuq and 90377 Sedna.
See also
In Spanish: Ijiraq (satélite) para niños
