Loge

Loge was discovered on March 6, 2006 by Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt and Jan T. Kleyna using the Subaru 8.3-m reflector telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

Loge has a mean radius of 1.9 miles (3 kilometers), assuming an albedo (a measure of how reflective the surface is) of 0.04. It orbits Saturn at an inclination of about 167 degrees and an eccentricity of about 0.2. At a mean distance of 14.3 million miles (23.0 million kilometers) from Saturn, the moon takes about 1,311 Earth days to complete one orbit.

Loge is a member of the Norse group of moons. These "irregular" moons have retrograde orbits around Saturn -- traveling around in the opposite direction from the planet's rotation. Loge and the other Norse moons also have eccentric orbits, meaning they are more elongated than circular.

Like Saturn's other irregular moons, Loge is thought to be an object that was captured by Saturn's gravity, rather than having accreted from the dusty disk that surrounded the newly formed planet as the regular moons are thought to have done.

Originally called S/2006 S5, Loge was named for Logi, a god who was the personification of fire in Norse mythology. He beat the trickster god, Loki, in an eating contest when he consumed not only the same amount of meat as Loki, but also the bone and the trough which held the food.