Atlas (satellite)

Atlas is one of the moons of the planet Saturn, also called Saturn XV.

Atlas orbits near the outer edge of the A ring, of which it appears to be a shepherd satellite.

It was discovered by Richard J. Terrile in 1980 in photographs taken by Voyager 1 in its encounter with Saturn, and given the designation 1980 S₂₈. In 1983 he was officially baptized with the name of the Titan Atlas.

Atlas appears to be a shepherd satellite of the A ring. In addition, a thin, faint ring, temporarily named the R/2004 S 1 Ring, was discovered in 2004 in Atlas's orbit. It also has a synchronous rotation with respect to Saturn.

High resolution images taken in June 2005 show a moon with a large equatorial bulge.