S/2005 S 4

S/2005 S 4

Discovery
Discovered by	Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, Jan Kleyna, Brett J. Gladman
Discovery date	2005
Orbital characteristics[1]
Semi-major axis	11,324,500 km (7,036,700 mi)
Eccentricity	0.315
Orbital period (sidereal)	1.232 yrs (450.22 d)
Inclination	48.0° (to the ecliptic)
Satellite of	Saturn
Group	Inuit group (Kiviuq)
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	5 km
Absolute magnitude (H)	15.7

S/2005 S 4 is a natural satellite of Saturn. Its discovery was announced by Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, Jan Kleyna, Edward Ashton, Brett J. Gladman, Jean-Marc Petit and Mike Alexandersen on May 10, 2023 from observations taken between December 12, 2004 and July 8, 2021.^[2]

S/2005 S 4 is about 5 kilometers in diameter, and orbits Saturn at a distance of 11.303 Gm in 448.63 days, at an inclination of 52.5, orbits in prograde direction and eccentricity of 0.177.^[2] S/2005 S 4 belongs to the Inuit group and it may be a Kiviuq and/or Ijiraq fragment that broke off long ago, since it shares the same orbital elements.^[3]

The orbit of S/2005 S 4 librates in accordance with the von Zeipel–Lidov–Kozai effect.^[4]

References

1. "Planetary Satellite Mean Elements". Jet Propulsion Laboratory. California Institute of Technology. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
2. "MPEC 2023-J79 : S/2005 S 4". Minor Planet Electronic Circular. Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
3. "S/2005 S 4". Tilmann's Web Site. Tilmann Denk. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
4. Grishin, Evgeni (September 2024). "Irregular Fixation II: The orbits of irregular satellites". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 533 (1): 497–509. arXiv:2407.05123. Bibcode:2024MNRAS.533..497G. doi:10.1093/mnras/stae1752.