S/2006 S 3

S/2006 S 3 is a natural satellite of Saturn. Its discovery was announced by Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, Jan Kleyna, and Brian G. Marsden on June 26, 2006 from observations taken between January and April 2006.

S/2006 S 3

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	Sheppard et al.
Discovery date	2006
Orbital characteristics [2]
Semi-major axis	21408300 km
Eccentricity	0.434
Orbital period	−1164.3 days
Inclination	151.7°
Satellite of	Saturn
Group	Norse group
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter	6+50% −30% km
Apparent magnitude	24.6

S/2006 S 3 is about 6 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Saturn at an average distance of 21,308,400 km in 1160.7 days, at an inclination of 152.8° to the ecliptic, in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.4707.[3]

The moon was once considered lost in 2006 as it was not seen since its discovery.[4][5][6] The moon was later recovered and announced in October 2019.[3]

References

• Institute for Astronomy Saturn Satellite Data
• MPEC 2006-M45: Eight New Satellites of Saturn June 26, 2006 (discovery and ephemeris)

1. Discovery Circumstances from JPL
2. S.S. Sheppard (2019), Moons of Saturn, Carnegie Science, on line
3. Tomatic, A. U. (8 October 2019). "MPEC 2019-T164 : S/2006 S 3". Minor Planet Electronic Circular. Minor Planet Center.
4. Beatty, Kelly (4 April 2012). "Outer-Planet Moons Found — and Lost". www.skyandtelescope.com. Sky & Telescope. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
5. Brozović, Marina; Jacobson, Robert A. (9 March 2017). "The Orbits of Jupiter's Irregular Satellites". The Astronomical Journal. 153 (4): 147. Bibcode:2017AJ....153..147B. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aa5e4d.
6. Jacobson, B.; Brozović, M.; Gladman, B.; Alexandersen, M.; Nicholson, P. D.; Veillet, C. (28 September 2012). "Irregular Satellites of the Outer Planets: Orbital Uncertainties and Astrometric Recoveries in 2009–2011". The Astronomical Journal. 144 (5): 132. Bibcode:2012AJ....144..132J. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/144/5/132.