Saturn's Satellite Atlas

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 by	R. Terrile
Date of discovery	1980

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 eccentricity	0.000
Orbital inclination (degrees)	0.0

Visual geometric albedo	0.9
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)

Saturn Pan Prometheus