
Helene
Moon· orbits Saturn
Helene is a moon orbiting Saturn.
Open in 3D viewSee Helene in the live, interactive 3D map
Key facts
Mass
7.19 × 10¹⁵ kg
0.000000098 Moon masses
Radius
18 km
1% of our Moon's radius
Surface gravity
0.00148 m/s²
0% of Earth's gravity
Orbit around Saturn
2.74 Earth days
Science
Physical
- Mass
- 7.19 × 10¹⁵ kg · 0.000000098 Moon masses
- JPL SSD Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters (GM SAT441) — dynamical (spacecraft ephemeris fit)
- Radius
- 18 km · 1% of our Moon's radius
- JPL SSD Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters (mean radius)
- Density
- 294 kg/m³ · 0.29× water
- Computed from mass and radius
- Surface gravity
- 0.00148 m/s² · 0% of Earth's gravity
- Computed from mass and radius
- Escape velocity
- 7.3 m/s · 0% of Earth's escape velocity
- Computed from mass and radius
Orbit around Saturn
- Distance from Saturn
- 377,600 km
- From JPL orbital elements
- Orbital period
- 2.7 days
- From JPL orbital elements
- Eccentricity
- 0.007
- From JPL orbital elements
- Inclination to Saturn's Laplace plane
- 0.20 °
- From JPL orbital elements · The Laplace plane is the one a moon's orbit precesses about: close in it is the planet's equatorial plane, the plane of the rings, and further out it tilts toward the planet's own orbit.
Radiation & temperature
- Insolation
- 0.0112 S⊕ · 1% of the sunlight Earth receives
- Computed from the distance to the Sun (inverse-square; Earth's sunlight = 1), before any atmosphere.
Discovery & history
- By
- P. Laques and J. Lecacheux
Helene was discovered in 1980 by P. Laques and J. Lecacheux. Saturn's moons are named after the Titans, giants and monsters of Greek and Roman myth. Beyond its discovery and naming, little more about it has been individually recorded.
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