Bestla is a moon of Saturn, part of the Solar System in the universe. Saturn is a planet associated with the Sun, our star, and this space encyclopedia describes the moon’s identity and place in its planetary system.

Bestla — A natural satellite of Saturn. Its physical properties and orbital motion are shown from the available catalogue and ephemeris data.

No object-specific chemical/elemental dataset has been verified and imported for this record. This does not mean none is publicly available. Appearance may be imagined; chemistry is not.

Discovery and designation
Bestla was discovered in 2004. JPL credits S. Sheppard, D.C. Jewitt, J. Kleyna. Its provisional designation is S/2004 S18. The name and discovery entry identify this particular satellite of Saturn; similarly named asteroids are separate objects.

Bestla was discovered on Dec. 12, 2004, one of 12 Saturnian moons found that day by Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, and Jan T. Kleyna, using wide-field camera on the Subaru 8.3-m reflector telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Brian Marsden computed the orbital elements.

Bestla has a mean radius of 2.2 miles (3.5 km), assuming an albedo (a measure of how reflective the surface is) of 0.04. It orbits Saturn at an inclination of about 142 degrees and an eccentricity of about 0.5. At a mean distance of 12.6 million miles (20.3 million km) from Saturn, the moon takes about 1,087 Earth days to complete one orbit.

Bestla 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. Bestla and the other Norse moons also have eccentric orbits, meaning they are more elongated than circular.

Like Saturn's other irregular moons, Bestla 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. Bestla appears to be a member of a subgroup with Narvi.

Originally called S/2004 S18, Bestla is named for a giantess and the mother of Odin, who is the supreme god in Norse mythology.