Albiorix (moon)
- 1 min read
- 3 chapters
Explore on Lably
ToursExplore Lably’s 3D toursAlbiorix is the largest member of the Gallic group of irregular satellites.
Name
It was named in August 2003 for Albiorix, "a Gallic giant who was considered to be the king of the world." The name is known from an inscription found near the French town of Sablet which identifies him with the Roman god Mars (an interpretatio romana).
Sign in to keep reading
2 more chapters are free with a Lably account.
Orbit
Albiorix orbits Saturn at a distance of about 16 million kilometers. The rotation period was measured by the ISS camera of the Cassini spacecraft to 13 hours and 19 minutes.
The diagram illustrates the Albiorigian orbit in relation to other prograde irregular satellites of Saturn. The eccentricity of the orbits is represented by the yellow segments extending from the pericentre to the apocentre.
Given the similarity of the orbital elements and the homogeneity of the physical characteristics with other members of the Gallic group, it was suggested that these satellites could have a common origin in the break-up of a larger moon.
Physical characteristics
Measurements from NEOWISE constrain the albedo of Albiorix at 0.062±0.028, in which case its diameter is a rather large 28.6±5.4 km. Albiorix is red in color, but some parts of its surface are less red than others. Varying colours suggest a possibility of a large crater, leading to an alternative hypothesis that Erriapus and Tarvos could be fragments of Albiorix following a near-break-up collision with another body. It has a rotation period of 13.33±0.03 h, and while one light curve measured by Cassini–Huygens found two minima with a moderate perturbation in one of them, a different angle showed a sharp minimum and two shallower ones.