Greip or Saturn LI 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 26 June 2006, from observations taken between 5 January and 1 May 2006. Greip is about 5 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Saturn at an average distance of 18,066 Mm in 906.556 days, at an inclination of 172.7° 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 ...

(159.2° to Saturn's equator), in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.3735, and is presumably at high risk of eventually colliding with Phoebe. It is unknown whether Greip is more similar to Suttungr or Hyrrokkin in color. Its rotation period is most likely hours with two minima in the light curve, but a longer period of 19 hours cannot be ruled out due to the short observation time by '' Cassini–Huygens''. It is named after Greip, a giantess in

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 ...

References

External links

Institute for Astronomy Saturn Satellite Data

June 30, 2006 (discovery)

June 26, 2006 (discovery and ephemeris)

September 20, 2007 (naming) {{DEFAULTSORT:Greip (Moon) Norse group Moons of Saturn Irregular satellites Discoveries by Scott S. Sheppard Astronomical objects discovered in 2006 Moons with a retrograde orbit