Pan

Pan was discovered by Mark R. Showalter in 1990 through analysis of Voyager 2 spacecraft images from its 1981 Saturn flyby. Named after the Greek god of nature, Pan boasts a distinctive equatorial ridge, giving it an unusual "flying saucer" shape. With a diameter of about 35 kilometers, this small moon orbits within Saturn's A Ring's Encke Gap. It serves as a "shepherd moon," gravitationally influencing the nearby ring particles and helping maintain the gap's clear boundaries. Covered in icy material, Pan's surface likely consists of fine regolith due to its modest gravity. The moon's formation likely involved gradual accumulation from Saturn's rings, leading to its unique equatorial ridge. While no dedicated missions have explored Pan, insights gleaned from the Cassini spacecraft's observations from 2004 to 2017 have significantly contributed to our understanding of its physical characteristics and interactions within Saturn's rings.