Saturn's moon Pandora appears as a lone sentinel, guarding a nearby ring to keep everything together.

At 52 miles (84 kilometers) across, Pandora is a shepherd moon, maintaining Saturn’s narrow F ring as it skirts on past.

The Cassini orbiter caught this view of Pandora and the F ring while flying about four degrees above the ringplane. Though it was released on June 17, 2005, Cassini recorded this image on May 4 at a distance of about 601,000 miles (967,000 kilometers) from Pandora.

While several dusty ringlets can be seen near the F ring core, they don’t appear to be as kinked and disturbed as the ring’s main body. Pandora’s entire shape can be determined here thanks to reflected light from Saturn. A crater is almost visible on the dark side of the little moon.

-- SPACE.com Staff

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute