Hati or Saturn XLIII is a

natural satellite A natural satellite is, in the most common usage, an astronomical body that orbits a planet, dwarf planet, or small Solar System body (or sometimes another natural satellite). Natural satellites are colloquially referred to as moons, a deriv ...

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 Jan T. Kleyna is a postdoctoral astronomy researcher at the University of Hawaiʻi The University of Hawaiʻi System is a public college and university system in Hawaii. The system confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degre ...

, and Brian G. Marsden on 4 May 2005, from observations taken between 12 December 2004 and 11 March 2005. Hati is about 5 kilometers in diameter, and orbits Saturn at an average distance of 19,697 Mm in 1040 days, at an

inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Eart ...

of 164° 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 ...

, in a retrograde direction and with an

eccentricity Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off-Centre (geometry), center, in geometry * Eccentricity (g ...

of 0.375, somewhat similar to

Mundilfari In Norse mythology Mundilfari (Old Norse: ; rendered variously ''Mundilfari'', ''Mundilföri'' and ''Mundilfœri'') (Old Norse, possibly "the one moving according to particular times"Simek (2007:222).) is the father of Sól, goddess associated ...

's orbit. In March 2013, the synodic rotational period was measured by '' Cassini'' to about hours. This is the fastest known rotation of all of Saturn's moons, and in fact the fastest known among all moons (including

asteroid moon A minor-planet moon is an astronomical object that orbits a minor planet as its natural satellite. , there are 457 minor planets known or suspected to have moons. Discoveries of minor-planet moons (and binary objects, in general) are important ...

s) for which a rotation period has been reliably measured. Like Mundilfari, it is very elongated in shape. It was named in April 2007 after Hati, a giant wolf 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 ...

, son of Fenrisúlfr and twin brother of

Sköll In Norse mythology, Sköll (Old Norse: , "Treachery"Orchard (1997:150). or "Mockery"Simek (2007:292)) is a wolf that, according to Snorri Sturluson's ''Prose Edda'', chases the Sun (personified as a goddess, Sól) riding her chariot across th ...

References

External links

Scott Sheppard's Giant Planet Satellites Page (Saturn Satellite Data)

May 3, 2005

May 4, 2005 (discovery)

May 3, 2005 (discovery and ephemeris)

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