Bergelmir (moon)

Bergelmir or Saturn XXXVIII (provisional designation S/2004 S 15) is a natural satellite of Saturn. Its discovery was announced by Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, Jan Kleyna, and Brian G. Marsden on May 4, 2005, from observations taken between December 12, 2004, and March 9, 2005.

Bergelmir
Bergelmir imaged by the Cassini spacecraft in September 2014
Discovery
Discovered byS. Sheppard, D. Jewitt,
J. Kleyna, and B. Marsden
Discovery dateMay 4, 2005
Designations
Designation
Saturn XXXVIII
Pronunciation/ˈbɛərjɛlmɪər/ or /ˈbɜːrɡəlmɪər/[1]
Named after
Bergelmir
S/2004 S 15
AdjectivesBergelmian[2]
Orbital characteristics
19,338,000 km[3]
Eccentricity0.142[3]
1,006.659 d[4]
Inclination158.5°[3]
Satellite ofSaturn
GroupNorse group
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter
5+50%
−30% km[4]
8.13±0.09 h[4]

    Bergelmir is about 6 kilometers (4 miles) in diameter, and orbits Saturn at an average distance of 19,372 Mm in 1006.659 days, at an inclination of 157° to the ecliptic (134° to Saturn's equator), in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.152. Its rotation period is 8.13±0.09 hours.[4]

    It was named in April 2007 after Bergelmir, a giant from Norse mythology and the grandson of Ymir, the primordial giant. Bergelmir and his wife alone among their kind were the only survivors of the enormous deluge of blood from Ymir's wounds when he was killed by Odin and his brothers at the dawn of time. Bergelmir then became the progenitor of a new race of giants.

    References
    1. The 'g' has a 'y' sound in Norse (indeed gelmir sounds like what it means in English, 'yeller'), but a spelling pronunciation would have it as 'g', as 'Aurgelmir' does in Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995).
    2. The oblique stem of the name is Bergelmi, as in Modern Norwegian Bergelme. The -r is the nominative case ending.
    3. Ma, Yuehua; et al. (2010). "On the Origin of Retrograde Orbit Satellites around Saturn and Jupiter". Icy Bodies of the Solar System, Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, IAU Symposium. 263: 157–160. Bibcode:2010IAUS..263..157M. doi:10.1017/S1743921310001687.
    4. Denk, T.; Mottola, S. (2019). Cassini Observations of Saturn's Irregular Moons (PDF). 50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Lunar and Planetary Institute.
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