Bergelmir or Saturn XXXVIII (provisional designation S/2004 S 15) is a natural satellite of

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...

. Its discovery was announced by Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, Jan Kleyna, and Brian G. Marsden on May 4, 2005, from observations taken between December 12, 2004, and March 9, 2005. Bergelmir is about in diameter, and orbits Saturn at an average distance of 19,338,000 km in 1006.659 days, at an inclination of 157° to the

ecliptic The ecliptic or ecliptic plane is the orbital plane of Earth's orbit, Earth around the Sun. It was a central concept in a number of ancient sciences, providing the framework for key measurements in astronomy, astrology and calendar-making. Fr ...

(134 ° to Saturn's equator), in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.152. Its rotation period is hours. It was named in April 2007 after Bergelmir, a

giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''wiktionary:gigas, gigas'', cognate wiktionary:giga-, giga-) are beings of humanoid appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''gia ...

from

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

and the grandson of Ymir, the primordial giant. Bergelmir and his wife alone among their kind were the only survivors of the enormous deluge of blood from Ymir's wounds when he was killed by

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

and his brothers at the dawn of time. Bergelmir then became the progenitor of a new race of giants.

Notes

References

External links

Institute for Astronomy Saturn Satellite Data

'' Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams'', May 4, 2005 (discovery)
MPEC 2005-J13: ''Twelve New Satellites of Saturn''
May 3, 2005 (discovery and ephemeris)

''Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams'', April 5, 2007 (naming the moon) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergelmir (Moon) Norse group Moons of Saturn Irregular satellites Discoveries by Scott S. Sheppard Astronomical objects discovered in 2005 Moons with a retrograde orbit