Jarnsaxa (moon)

An image of the moon Jarnsaxa.

Jarnsaxa or Saturn L (provisional designation S/2006 S 6) is a moon of Saturn. Its discovery was announced by Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, Jan Kleyna, and Brian G. Marsden on June 26, 2006, from images taken between January 5 and April 29, 2006.

Jarnsaxa is about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) in diameter, and orbits Saturn at an average distance of 18,556,900 kilometres (11,530,700 mi) in 943.784 days, at an inclination of 162.9° to the ecliptic (164.1° to Saturn's equator), with an eccentricity of 0.1918. It is a member of the Norse group of non-spherical moons.

It is named after Járnsaxa, a giantess (female giant) in Norse mythology.

References

• Institute for Astronomy Saturn Satellite Data
• IAUC 8727: Satellites of Saturn 2006 June 30 (discovery)
• MPEC 2006-M45: Eight New Satellites of Saturn 2006 June 26 (discovery and ephemeris)
• MPEC 2007-D79: S/2006 S 6 2007 February 28 (recovery)
• IAUC 8873: Satellites of Saturn (subscription-only) 2007 September 20 (naming)