Saturn: Moons: Telesto

The Cassini spacecraft passed within a cosmic stone's throw of Telesto in October 2005 capturing this shot of the tiny Trojan moon.

Telesto is known as a Tethys Trojan because, together with Calypso, it circles Saturn in the same orbit as the moon Tethys, about 60 degrees ahead of and behind it. Telesto is the leading Trojan. Calypso is the trailing Trojan.

Telesto is about 24 km (15 miles) across and appears to have a smooth, icy surface. It does not show the signs of instense cratering seen on many of Saturn's other moons.

Discovery
Telesto was discovered in 1980 using ground-based observations by Brad Smith, Harold Reitsema, Stephen Larson and John Fountain

How Telesto Got its Name
Telesto [tah-LESS-toh] is a daughter of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys in Greek mythology. It was originally designated S/1981 S 1.