what are the moons of saturn named after
Moons of Saturn The modern names for Saturnian moons were suggested by John Herschel in 1847.[13] He proposed to name them after mythological figures associated with the Roman god of agriculture and harvest, Saturn (equated to the Greek Cronus).[13] In particular, the then known seven satellites were named after Titans, Titanesses and Giantsâ€”brothers and sisters of Cronus.[16] In 1848, Lassell proposed that the eighth satellite of Saturn be named Hyperion after another Titan.[15] When in the 20th century the names of Titans were exhausted, the moons were named after different characters of the Greco-Roman mythology or giants from other mythologies.[33] All the irregular moons (except Phoebe) are named after Inuit and Gallic gods and after Norse ice giants.[34]
Titan (moon) Titan orbits Saturn once every 15 days and 22 hours. Like the Moon and many of the satellites of the giant planets, its rotational period (its day) is identical to its orbital period; Titan is tidally locked in synchronous rotation with Saturn, and permanently shows one face to the planet, so Titan's "day" is equal to its orbit period. Because of this, there is a sub-Saturnian point on its surface, from which the planet would always appear to hang directly overhead. Longitudes on Titan are measured westward, starting from the meridian passing through this point.[17] Its orbital eccentricity is 0.0288, and the orbital plane is inclined 0.348 degrees relative to the Saturnian equator.[2] Viewed from Earth, Titan reaches an angular distance of about 20 Saturn radii (just over 1,200,000 kilometers (750,000Â mi)) from Saturn and subtends a disk 0.8 arcseconds in diameter.