Skathi (moon)

Skathi (pronEng|ˈskɑːði "SKAH-dhee)," or Saturn XXVII, is a natural satellite of Saturn. It was discovered by Brett Gladman,Kavelaars, et al. in 2000, and given the temporary designation S/2000 S 8. [ [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iauc/07500/07538.html IAUC 7538: "S/2000 S 7, S/2000 S 8, S/2000 S 9"] 2000 December 7 (discovery)] [ [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/mpec/K00/K00Y15.html MPEC 2000-Y15: "S/2000 S 1, S/2000 S 2, S/2000 S 7, S/2000 S 8, S/2000 S 9"] 2000 December 19 (discovery and ephemeris)] Skathi is about 6.4 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Saturn at an average distance of 15,576 Mm in 725.784 days, at an inclination of 149° to the ecliptic (150° to Saturn's equator), in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.246.

The name is given as Skadi by most sources. This is the name that was originally announced in 2003 [ [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iauc/08100/08177.html IAUC 8177: "Satellites of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus"] 2003 August 8 (naming the moon)] ; however the IAU Working Group on Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) decided in early 2005 to use an alternative transliteration of the Norse spelling [ [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iauc/08400/08471.html IAUC 8471: "Satellites of Saturn"] 2005 January 21 (naming the moon)] . The classical spelling is "Skaði", with the letter Ð ("eth"), and the original form "Skadi" was a graphic approximation of that.

Skathi may have been formed from debris knocked off Phoebe by large impacts at some point in the solar system's history.

Its name comes from Norse mythology, where Skaði is a giantess who is the wife of the Vanir god Niord.

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