Anthe is a very small natural satellite of Saturn lying between the orbits of Mimas and Enceladus. It is also known as Saturn XLIX; its provisional designation was S/2007 S 4. It is named after one of the Alkyonides; the name means flowery. It is the sixtieth confirmed moon of Saturn.
The designation S/2007 S 4 was also accidentally and incorrectly used for a different Saturnian satellite discovered later. The published discovery was retracted a few hours later and republished the next day under the correct name of S/2007 S 5.
It was discovered by the Cassini Imaging Team in images taken on 30 May 2007. Once the discovery was made, a search of older Cassini images revealed it in observations from as far back as June 2004. It was first announced on 18 July 2007.
Anthe is visibly affected by a perturbing 10:11 mean-longitude resonance with the much larger Mimas. This causes its osculating orbital elements to vary with an amplitude of about 20 km in semi-major axis on a timescale of about 2 Earth years. The close proximity to the orbits of Pallene and Methone suggests that these moons may form a dynamical family.
The ratio of Anthe's medium axis to its long axis is âÂÂ0.7, and the ratio of its short axis to its medium axis is âÂÂ0.95. This implies that it has a similar shape to Methone.
Material blasted off Anthe by micrometeoroid impacts is thought to be the source of the Anthe Ring Arc, a faint partial ring about Saturn co-orbital with the moon first detected in June 2007.