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OBMeet Daphnis, one of Saturn’s 274 moons.
Daphnis is a tiny moon, only about eight kilometers wide, orbiting inside Saturn’s rings within the Keeler Gap. Even at that size, its gravity dramatically shapes the rings around it.
As it moves, Daphnis pulls on nearby ring particles and creates towering waves along the gap’s edges, some rising several kilometers high. Cassini revealed these ripples by capturing their long shadows during Saturn’s equinox, proving the rings aren’t flat but constantly in motion.
It’s a small, irregular chunk likely formed from ring material, yet it sculpts Saturn’s rings on a scale far larger than itself.
Video: Space Engine
@observatory
