Shepherd moon
Satellite associated with a planetary ring / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For the album by Enya, see Shepherd Moons.
A shepherd moon, also called a herder moon or watcher moon,[citation needed] is a small natural satellite that clears a gap in planetary ring material or keeps particles within a ring contained. The name is a result of their limiting the "herd" of the ring particles as a shepherd.
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.