S/2019 S 1

S/2019 S 1 is a natural satellite of Saturn. Its discovery was announced by Edward Ashton, Brett J. Gladman, Jean-Marc Petit, and Mike Alexandersen on 16 November 2021 from Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope observations taken between 1 July 2019 and 14 June 2021.^[1]

Apparent path of S/2019 S 1 as seen from Earth during 2019–2021. Coloured circles along the path mark the dates and locations at which the moon was observed.

S/2019 S 1

Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope image of S/2019 S 1 (center), revealed by stacking many images while following the moon's motion
Discovery[1]
Discovered by	E. Ashton et al.
Discovery date	2019 (announced 2021)
Designations
Alternative names	e26r58a12[2]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Semi-major axis	11221100 km
Eccentricity	0.623
Orbital period (sidereal)	443.78 days
Inclination	44.4°
Satellite of	Saturn
Group	Inuit group (Kiviuq)[3][2]
Physical characteristics[4]
Mean diameter	5+30% −15% km
Albedo	0.06 (assumed)
Apparent magnitude	25.3
Absolute magnitude (H)	15.3

S/2019 S 1 is about 5 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Saturn at an average distance of 11.2 million km (7.0 million mi) in 443.78 days, at an inclination of 44° to the ecliptic, in a prograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.623.^[1] It belongs to the Inuit group of prograde irregular satellites, and is among the innermost irregular satellites of Saturn.^[3] It might be a collisional fragment of Kiviuq and Ijiraq, which share very similar orbital elements.^[4]

This moon's eccentric orbit takes it closer than 1.5 million km (0.93 million mi) to Iapetus several times per millennium.^[4]