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Atlas (at'-lus, Greek Άτλας) is a moon of |
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Eccentricity | 0.000 | ||||||
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Orbital period | 0.603 d | ||||||
Inclination | 0.007° (to Saturn's equator) | ||||||
Satellite of | Saturn | ||||||
Physical characteristics | |||||||
Mean diameter | 37×34.4×27 km | ||||||
Surface area | ~13,500 km2 | ||||||
Volume | ~18,000 km3 | ||||||
Mass | 1.1×1016 kg | ||||||
Mean density | 0.63 g/cm3 | ||||||
Surface gravity | ~0.0026 m/s2 | ||||||
Escape velocity | ~0.0095 km/s | ||||||
Rotation period | synchronous | ||||||
Axial tilt | zero | ||||||
Albedo | 0.4 | ||||||
Surface temperature |
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Atmospheric pressure | 0 kPa |
Atlas was discovered by Richard Terrile in 1980 (some time before November 12) from Voyager photos and was designated 1980 S 28. In 1983 it was officially named after Atlas of Greek mythology, because it "holds the rings on its shoulders" like the Titan Atlas held the sky up above the Earth. It is also designated as Saturn XV.
Atlas seems to be a shepherd satellite of the A ring. Furthermore, in 2004 a faint, thin ring, temporarily designated R/2004 S 1, was discovered within Atlas's orbit.
High-resolution images taken in June 2005 by Cassini reveal a saucer-shaped moon with a large equatorial ridge.
Links
... | Daphnis | Atlas | Prometheus | ...
Saturn's natural satellites
Pan | Daphnis | Atlas | Prometheus | S/2004 S 6 | S/2004 S 4 | S/2004 S 3 | Pandora | Epimetheus and Janus | Mimas | Methone | Pallene | Enceladus | Telesto, Tethys, and Calypso | Polydeuces, Dione, and Helene | Rhea | Titan | Hyperion | Iapetus | Kiviuq | Ijiraq | Phoebe | Paaliaq | Skathi | Albiorix | S/2004 S 11 | Erriapo | Siarnaq | S/2004 S 13 | Tarvos | Mundilfari | S/2004 S 17 | Narvi | S/2004 S 15 | S/2004 S 10 | Suttungr | S/2004 S 12 | S/2004 S 18 | S/2004 S 9 | S/2004 S 14 | S/2004 S 7 | Thrymr | S/2004 S 16 | Ymir | S/2004 S 8
see also: Rings of Saturn | Cassini-Huygens | Themis
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/"
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
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