Theory about Atlas morphology (Saturn moon)

Abstract

On June 12, 2007 the Cassini probe sent the images of a small moon of Saturn called Atlas which is located between the ring A and the small ring R/2004 S 1. These images have shown that the Atlas morphology is very different from other moons of similar dimensions. In the present article we propose a reasonable theory, to that we denominated "flying dune", that explains its morphologic characteristics from its magnitudes like mass, diameters and orbital radius, as well as its orbital position and the interpretation of the images caught by the Cassini probe.