Atlas
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 

Views of Atlas

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

 

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Copyright © 1997 by Calvin J. Hamilton. All rights reserved.