Mundilfari (moon) facts for kids

Mundilfari, also known as Saturn XXV, is one of the many moons that orbit the planet Saturn. It was discovered in the year 2000 by a team of astronomers led by Brett J. Gladman. When it was first found, it was given the temporary name S/2000 S 9.

Mundilfari's Size and Orbit

Mundilfari is a small moon, only about 5.6 kilometres wide. It travels around Saturn very far away. Its average distance from Saturn is about 18,360,000 kilometres.

It takes Mundilfari a long time to complete one trip around Saturn. It finishes its orbit in about 928.8 days, which is more than two and a half years! Its path around Saturn is also quite tilted. This tilt, called its inclination, is about 170 degrees compared to the ecliptic. The ecliptic is the plane where most planets orbit the Sun.

Mundilfari's orbit is also a bit stretched out, not perfectly round. This stretching is called its eccentricity, and for Mundilfari, it's 0.198. This means its path is more like an oval than a perfect circle.

How Mundilfari May Have Formed

Scientists believe that Mundilfari might have formed from pieces of another moon. These pieces, called debris, could have been knocked off the moon Phoebe. This likely happened a very long time ago, when large objects crashed into Phoebe. Such impacts were common in the early history of our solar system.

The Story Behind the Name

Mundilfari received its official name in August 2003. Like many of Saturn's moons, its name comes from Norse mythology. In these ancient stories, Mundilfari is a Jotun, which means a giant. He is known as the father of two important gods: Sol, the goddess of the Sun, and Mani, the god of the Moon.

See also

• In Spanish: Mundilfari (satélite) para niños