Daphnis

Daphnis is an inner satellite of Saturn. It is also known as Saturn XXXV or its provisional designation, S/2005 S 1. Daphnis is about 8 kilometers in diameter and orbits Saturn in the Keeler Gap within the A Ring.
== Naming ==
The moon was named in 2006 after Daphnis, a shepherd, pipes player, and pastoral poet in Greek mythology; he was descendant of the Titans, after whom the largest moons of Saturn are named. Both Daphnis and Pan, the only other known shepherd moon to orbit within Saturn's main rings, are named for mythological figures associated with shepherds.
== Orbit ==
The inclination and eccentricity of Daphnis's orbit are very small, but distinguishable from zero. Both, particularly the inclination, are significantly greater than those of Pan (the larger moonlet which forms the Encke Gap). Daphnis's eccentricity causes its distance from Saturn to vary by ~9 km, and its inclination causes it to move up and down by ~17 km. The Keeler Gap, within which Daphnis orbits, is about 42 km wide.
== Physical Characteristics ==
On January 18, 2017, Daphnis was photographed from a sufficiently close distance to reveal its shape. The moon was discovered to be an irregularly-shaped object with a mostly smooth surface, a few craters, and an equatorial ridge, similar to some other shepherd moons of Saturn like Atlas and Pan.
Category:Moons
Category:Saturnian Moons
Category:Inner Moon of Saturn
Category:Shepherd Moon
Category:Objects with No Atmosphere
Category:Objects Not in Hydrostatic Equilibrium
Category:Objects with Equatorial Ridges
Category:Prograde Satellite
Category:Named Objects
Category:Named Moons
Category:Numbered Objects
Category:Numbered Moons
Category:Objects Visited by Spacecraft