Discovery of S/2004 S 17

S/2004 S 17 is a very small moon of Saturn, known by a provisional designation showing that it was first found in 2004. Like many of Saturn's faint outer satellites, it is only a few kilometres across and moves on a distant, tilted orbit. It was discovered by a team of astronomers led by Scott Sheppard, who used large ground-based telescopes to search for irregular moons. Such moons are generally thought to be captured objects or fragments of larger bodies broken up in collisions. The moon had not received a formal name when this entry was compiled.

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