Phoebe (moon)

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/phoebe-moon

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. Who discovered Phoebe (moon)?Discovered on August 16, 1899, by William Henry Pickering
2. What is the parent planet?Saturn
3. What is the diameter?Approximately 213 kilometers (132 miles)
4. What is Phoebe?Phoebe is one of Saturn's moons. It is about 213 kilometers wide and looks like a lumpy, cratered potato. It spins very quickly, about once every 9 hours.
5. Why does Phoebe spin so fast?Phoebe's rapid rotation makes it slightly flattened. Scientists think its fast spin is because it was captured from far away, not formed around Saturn.

Irregular Moon: A moon with an orbit that is far from its planet, often inclined, and sometimes retrograde.
Retrograde Orbit: An orbit in which a celestial body moves in the opposite direction to the rotation of its primary body.
Kuiper Belt: A region of the solar system beyond Neptune, containing many icy bodies and dwarf planets.
Regolith: A layer of loose, broken rock and dust that covers the surface of a celestial body.