The smooth edge of this moon stands in contrast with its rough and somewhat spherical core. It has an irregular shape which many likened to that of a flying saucer. Scientist Richard Terrile discovered this satellite in October 1980 from Voyager 1 images.Ītlas is one of the inner satellites of Saturn. It is also known by the designation Saturn XV. Rotation – Synchronous (tidally locked)Ītlas is a small moon of the gaseous planet Saturn.Escape velocity – Approximately 0.0062 km/s.Average Orbit Distance – 137, 670☑0 km.Discoverer – Richard Terrile, Voyager 1.Behind the name – Ātlās (the Titan carrying the heaven on his back).Examples are Metis of Jupiter, Cordelia and Ophelia of Uranus, and Galatea of Neptune.Ītlas Moon: Facts and Figures All About the Name The other giant planets in the solar system, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, keep their rings sharp with the help of their inner moons as well. Ring shepherds are not only found in the system of Saturn. Though they are not as close to the rings as the others, the co-orbital moons Janus and Epimetheus also function as herder moons. The other two shepherds, Prometheus and Pandora, maintain the F ring. Pan and Daphnis are within the Encke gap and the Keeler Gap respectively while Atlas lies close to the edge of the A ring. Saturn has three moons shepherding the A ring. These moons are also called herder moons and watcher moons. In a way, shepherd moons “herd” the ring materials of Saturn. That sort of “kick” sculpts the edge of Saturn’s rings or keeps the ring gaps open. Those materials are deflected by the gravitational influence of the moons, keeping them in place. A shepherd moon comes to the rescue when that happens.Īs shepherd satellites orbit their parent planet, they come across loose ring materials along the way. Because of the movement, particles can go off track and diverge from the ring. Saturn’s rings move and orbit around it at different speeds. Remember that planetary rings are made up of dust, ice, and all kinds of debris suspended in space. The craters themselves, which have been preserved for billions of years, provide an impact history for the Moon and other bodies in the inner solar system.Ring shepherd moons help keep the shape of a planet’s ring. These light and dark areas represent rocks of different composition and ages, which provide evidence for how the early crust may have crystallized from a lunar magma ocean. The dark features, called maria (Latin for seas), are impact basins that were filled with lava between 4.2 and 1.2 billion years ago. The light areas of the Moon are known as the highlands. Plans are now under way for humans to return to the Moon through NASA’s Artemis program. Twelve humans have walked on the Moon (all astronauts in NASA’s Apollo program in the 1960s and 1970s).Some polar craters, darkened by permanent shadows, harbor hidden water ice. The coldest temperatures in the solar system have been recorded at the Moon’s poles.Tidal forces, meteoroid impacts, and thermal changes in rock near the surface all trigger seismic disturbances. Compared to Earth, the Moon is a quietly active world. The debris from this impact likely formed the Moon.
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