Kiviuq is one of the irregular moons of Saturn, meaning that it does not orbit Saturn in a regular, circular path like the planet's larger moons. It was discovered in 2000 by the team of astronomers Brett Gladman, John J. Kavelaars, Jean-Marc Petit, Hans Scholl, Matthew J. Holman, Brian G. Marsden, Phillip D. Nicholson, and Joseph A. Burns, using observations from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. Kiviuq has a diameter of about 30 kilometers (19 miles) and orbits Saturn at a distance of about 11.1 million kilometers (6.9 million miles) in a highly inclined and eccentric orbit that takes it as far as 17.6 million kilometers (10.9 million miles) from the planet. Its orbit is retrograde, meaning it orbits Saturn in the opposite direction of the planet's rotation. The irregular shape and unusual orbit of Kiviuq suggest that it may be a captured object, meaning that it did not form in orbit around Saturn but was instead captured by the planet's gravitational pull at some point in the past. Kiviuq's surface is heavily cratered, with some craters being up to 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) in diameter. The moon's surface also shows evidence of tectonic activity, with several large, steep-sided ridges crisscrossing its surface. Overall, Kiviuq is a fascinating moon that continues to be studied by astronomers and planetary scientists in order to better understand its origin and evolution, as well as the dynamics of the Saturnian system as a whole.
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