Skoll (moon) facts for kids

Skoll, also known as Saturn XLVII, is one of the many moons orbiting the giant planet Saturn. It's not perfectly round like Earth's Moon; instead, it has an irregular, non-spherical shape. Scientists first spotted Skoll in 2006. Its discovery was announced on June 26, 2006, by a team of astronomers: Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, and Jan Kleyna. They found it by looking at images taken between January 5 and April 30 of that year.

Skoll's Size and Journey Around Saturn

Skoll is a small moon, measuring about 6 kilometres (about 3.7 miles) across. To give you an idea, that's roughly the size of a small town! Scientists estimate its size by looking at how much sunlight it reflects. This reflection amount is called its albedo.

Skoll travels a long way around Saturn. Its average distance from the planet is about 17,600,000 kilometres (about 10.9 million miles). It takes Skoll a long time to complete one orbit around Saturn – about 869 Earth days! Its path around Saturn is also quite unusual. It's very eccentric, meaning it's not a perfect circle but more of an oval shape. Plus, its orbit is highly inclined, which means it's tilted a lot compared to Saturn's equator.

How Skoll Got Its Name

In April 2007, this moon was officially named Skoll. It got its name from Norse mythology, which is a collection of stories and beliefs from ancient Scandinavia. In these myths, Sköll is a giant wolf. He is known as the son of Fenrisulfr, a monstrous wolf, and the twin brother of another wolf named Hati. Many of Saturn's moons are named after figures from Norse mythology.

See also

In Spanish: Skoll (satélite) para niños