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Atlas
Atlas, a Moon of Saturn
Saturn XV - 1980S28



Atlas, the second of Saturn's known satellites, orbits near the outer edge of the A-ring and is about 40 by 20 kilometers (25 by 15 miles) in size. It is probably a shepherd satellite for Saturn's A-ring. Atlas was discovered by R. Terrile in 1980 from photographs taken by Voyager during its encounter with Saturn.

Atlas Statistics
Discovered byR. Terrile
Date of discovery1980
Mass (kg)?
Radius (km)20x15
Radius (Earth = 1)3.1358e-03
Mean density (gm/cm^3)?
Mean distance from Saturn (km)137,640
Rotational period (days)?
Orbital period (days)0.6019
Mean orbital velocity (km/sec)16.63
Orbital eccentricity0.000
Orbital inclination (degrees)0.0
Visual geometric albedo0.9
Magnitude (Vo)18.0

Atlas Cassini Spies Atlas
This is the highest resolution image yet taken of Saturn's moon Atlas, Atlas orbits near Saturn's A ring. At the time the picture was taken, the Cassini spacecraft was about 139,006 kilometers from Atlas.

Atlas has a distinct oblong shape with the hint of a few craters. (Copyright Calvin J. Hamilton)

Atlas Atlas
This image of Atlas was acquired by the Voyager 1 spacecraft on November 12, 1980. (Copyright Calvin J. Hamilton)

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