S/2004 S 4

nowrap|S/2004 S 4 is the provisional designation of an unconfirmed object seen orbiting Saturn within the inner strand of the F ring on 21 June, 2004. It was spotted while J. N. Spitale was trying to confirm the orbit of another provisional object, nowrap|S/2004 S 3 that was seen 5 hours earlier just exterior to the F ring. The announcement was made on September 9, 2004. [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iauc/08400/08401.html IAUC 8401: "S/2004 S 3, S/2004 S 4, and R/2004 S 1"] 2004 September 9 (discovery)]

Despite later attempts to recover it, it has not been reliably sighted since. Notably, an imaging sequence covering an entire orbital period at 4 km resolution taken on 15 November, 2004 failed to recover the object. This suggests that it was a temporary clump of material that had disappeared by that time.cite journal | author= Spitale, J. N.; "et al."| title= "The orbits of Saturn's small satellites derived from combined historic and "Cassini" imaging observations"| journal= The Astronomical Journal| year= 2006| volume= 132 | issue=2 | pages= 692–710 | url=http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1538-3881/132/2/692/205235.html | doi= 10.1086/505206]

An interpretation where S3 and S4 are or were a single object on a F-ring crossing orbit is also possible. Such an object might also be orbiting at a slightly different inclination to the F ring, thereby not actually passing through the ring material despite being seen both radially inward and outward of it.

If a solid object after all, nowrap|S/2004 S 4 would be 3−5 km in diameter based on brightness.

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