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Phoebe


Phoebe is the outermost of Saturn's satellites. Phoebe is almost 4 times more distant from Saturn than its nearest neighbor (Iapetus). Most of Saturn's moons are bright but Phoebe's albedo is very low (0.05), as dark as lampblack. All of Saturn's moons except for Phoebe and Iapetus orbit very nearly in the plane of Saturn's equator. Phoebe's orbit is inclined almost 175° (its north pole is in the opposite direction to Saturn's). This puts its retrogade orbit in a plane much closer to the ecliptic than to Saturn's equatorial plane. Phoebe's eccentric, retrograde orbit and unusual albedo indicates that it may be a captured asteroid or Kuiper Belt object. Phoebe is also unusual in that it does not rotate synchronously as do all the other moons of Saturn except Hyperion.


Orbital Distance:   12,952,000 km (average)
Eccentricity:       0.163
Local Year:         -550.48 days (550d 11h 31m 12s retrogade)
Orbital Velocity:   -1.711 km/s (retrograde)
Inclination:        175.3°
Local Day:          0.400 days (9h 36m 0s)
Axial Tilt:         n/a

Diameter:           220 km
Composition:        Mainly ice
Density:            0.72 g/cm3
Mass:               4.00 x 1015 tonnes (669/billion earths)
Gravity:            0.0023 G
Escape Velocity:    0.07 km/s
Area:               152,000 km2
Surface Material:   Carbonaceous soil
Atmosphere:         None
Pressure:           None
Albedo:             0.06
Temperature:        ???°C

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