Saturn: Moons: Atlas

From left to right: a view of Atlas' trailing hemisphere, with north up, at a spatial scale of about 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) per pixel; Atlas seen at about 250 meters (820 feet) per pixel from mid-southern latitudes, with the sub-Saturn hemisphere at the top and leading hemisphere to the left.

Atlas orbits around the outer edge of Saturn's A Ring and acts as a shepherding satellite, constraining the extent of the outer edge of this ring.

Like Pan, Atlas has a distinctive flying saucer shape created by a prominent equatorial ridge not seen on the other small moons of Saturn. Cassini images revealed in 2004 that a faint ring of material coincides with the orbit of Atlas.

The small, pointy moon is about 32 kilometers (20 miles) across.

Discovery
Moons of Saturn were originally named for Greco-Roman Titans and descendants of the Titans. But as many new moons were discovered scientists began selecting names from more mythologies, including Gallic, Inuit and Norse stories.

How Atlas Got its Name
Moons of Saturn were originally named for Greco-Roman Titans and descendants of the Titans. But as many new moons were discovered scientists began selecting names from more mythologies, including Gallic, Inuit and Norse stories.

Atlas (AT-less) was a son of Iapetus. After the defeat of the Titans, Zeus ordered Atlas to uphold the vault of the sky. Atlas was so strong that he supported the weight of the universe on his shoulders.