In Greek mythology, Epimetheus (/ɛpɪˈmiːθiəs/; Greek: Ἐπιμηθεύς, lit. “afterthought“) was the brother of Prometheus (traditionally interpreted as “foresight”, literally “fore-thinker”), a pair of Titans who “acted as representatives of mankind”. They were the sons of Iapetus, who in other contexts was the father of Atlas. While Prometheus is characterized as ingenious and clever, Epimetheus is depicted as foolish.
According to Plato’s use of the old myth in his Protagoras (320d–322a), the twin Titans were entrusted with distributing the traits among the newly created animals. Epimetheus was responsible for giving a positive trait to every animal, but when it was time to give man a positive trait, lacking foresight he found that there was nothing left…. In the context of Plato’s dialogue, “Epimetheus, the being in whom thought follows production, represents nature in the sense of materialism, according to which thought comes later than thoughtless bodies and their thoughtless motions.
In his seminal book Psychological Types, in chapter X, “General description of the types”, Carl Jung uses the image of Epimetheus to refer to the false application of a mental function, as opposed to its whole, healthy, and creative use.
A little unpleasant AI for the brothers Epimetheus and Prometheus:
Meet the Team: WLBOTT Dept. of Spirit Moon
The Moon
Epimetheus is an inner satellite of Saturn. It is also known as Saturn XI. It is named after the mythological Epimetheus, brother of Prometheus.
Epimetheus occupies essentially the same orbit as the moon Janus. Astronomers originally assumed that there was only one body in that orbit, disbelieving that two moons could share nearly identical orbits without eventually colliding. Thus, there was difficulty in determining their orbital characteristics. Observations were photographic and spaced widely apart in time, so that while the presence of two objects was not obvious, the observations were difficult to reconcile with a reasonable orbit.
Images from the Wikipedia PageThe timing and magnitude of the momentum exchange is such that the moons effectively swap orbits, never approaching closer than about 10,000 km. By Phoenix7777 – Own workData source: HORIZONS System, JPL, NASA, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75032646
Epimetheus (lower left) and Janus (right) seen on 20 March 2006, two months after swapping orbits. The two moons appear close only because of foreshortening; in reality, Janus is about 40,000 km farther from Cassini than Epimetheus.
By NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute – http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08170, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3268690
By Jrkenti at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36313491
While Saturn has more than 60 confirmed moons, the planet’s main ring system is associated with a unique set of small moons that are either embedded within it or interact with the rings to alter their shape and composition.
The researchers found that dust and ice from the rings accretes onto the moons embedded within and near the rings.
They also found the moon surfaces to be highly porous, further confirming that they were formed in multiple stages as ring material settled onto denser cores that might be remnants of a larger object that broke apart. The porosity also helps explain their shape: rather than being spherical, they are blobby and ravioli-like[3], with material stuck around their equators.
Little Enceladus and enormous Titan are seen on either side of Saturn’s rings in this image, a color-composite made from raw images acquired by Cassini on March 12, 2012. … a roughly true-color view of what Cassini saw as it passed within 1,045,591 km of Enceladus
Cassini delivers this stunning vista showing small, battered Epimetheus and smog-enshrouded Titan, with Saturn’s A and F rings stretching across the scene….
Epimetheus is 116 kilometers (72 miles) across and giant Titan is 5,150 kilometers (3,200 miles) across.
The view was acquired with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 28, 2006, at a distance of approximately 667,000 kilometers (415,000 miles) from Epimetheus and 1.8 million kilometers (1.1 million miles) from Titan. The image captures the illuminated side of the rings. The image scale is 4 kilometers (2 miles) per pixel on Epimetheus and 11 kilometers (7 miles) per pixel on Titan.
Prof. James Schombert and the University of Oregon
Lots of cool moon-stuff on Prof. Schombert’s University of Oregon page, including a 4.4MB jpg poster of Saturn’s moons.
(click to see the full res on U. Oregon’s site, new tab) Daphnis drifts through the Keeler gap
Rhea is the second-largest of Saturn’s moons. In 2005 Cassini detected a depletion of electrons in the plasma wake of Rhea, which forms when the co-rotating plasma of Saturn’s magnetosphere is absorbed by the moon. The depletion was hypothesized to be caused by the presence of dust-sized particles concentrated in a few faint equatorial rings. Such a ring system would make Rhea the only moon in the Solar System known to have rings.
Paroled from NASA/JPL, Dr. Schombert has been an academic at the UOregon since 1996. When not teaching astronomy or volleyball, he can be found in his office. He has no hobbies, his career goal is to become a philosopher-king and to evolve beyond the need for a material body..…
My political doctrine is well-known, click here for a lengthy description[1]. I have often been called the Angriest Astronomer in the World.
[1] Here is the sum-total of his lengthy political description:
Other interesting things pop up under Prof. Schombert’s profile.
Shepherd Moon / Shepard Satellite
Several of Saturn’s moons are described as “Shepherd Moon” or “Shepherd Satellite”. What does this mean?
Due to their gravitational influence, shepherd moons deflect ring particles from their original orbits due to proximity or through orbital resonances. This can carve gaps in the ring system, such as the Encke Gap maintained by Saturn’s moon Pan, or lead to the confining of narrow ringlets, such as Saturn’s F ring.
Uranus
Uranus also has shepherd moons on its ε ring, Cordelia and Ophelia. They are interior and exterior shepherds, respectively. Both moons are well within Uranus’s synchronous orbit radius, and their orbits are therefore slowly decaying due to tidal deceleration.
Saturn’s Shepherd moons should not be confused with Enya’s Shepherd Moons or Shepherd’s Pie. The following handy reference will guide you through any befuddlement.
One reply on “Epimetheus – WLBOTT’s Spirit Moon”
I can’t help but visualize an astronaut on Deimos slipping on a banana peel. How long would it take for him/her to do a faceplant on the surface?
One reply on “Epimetheus – WLBOTT’s Spirit Moon”
I can’t help but visualize an astronaut on Deimos slipping on a banana peel. How long would it take for him/her to do a faceplant on the surface?