Himalia group
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The Himalia group is a group of prograde non-spherical moons of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Himalia and are thought to have a common origin.
The known members of the group are (in order from closest to farthest from Jupiter):
The orbit estimate of the recently found moon S/2000 J 11 also qualified it as a member of the group (it appeared to have the same inclination, and a slightly bigger semi-major axis)[1] but its orbit is not known exactly and the mean orbital elements have not yet been calculated.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) reserves names in -a for the moons in this group.
[change] Characteristics and origin
The objects in the Himalia group have semi-major axes (distances from Jupiter) in the range of 11,150,000 and 11,750,000 km, inclinations between 26.6° and 28.3°, and eccentricities of between 0.11 and 0.25. All moons in the group are grey similar to C-type asteroids. It has been suggested that the group could be a remnant of the break-up of an asteroid from the main asteroid belt.[2] The radius of the parent asteroid was probably about 89 km, only a bit bigger than that of Himalia, which retains approximately 87% of the mass of the original body. This indicates the asteroid was not heavily disturbed.[1]
[change] References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt An abundant population of small irregular satellites around Jupiter, Nature, 423 (May 2003), pp.261-263 (pdf)
- ↑ Grav, Tommy; Holman, Matthew J.; Gladman, Brett J.; Aksnes, Kaare Photometric survey of the irregular satellites, Icarus, 166,(2003), pp. 33-45. Preprint
| Moons of Jupiter | |
|---|---|
| Listed in increasing distance from Jupiter. Temporary names in italics. | |
| Amalthea group | Metis · Adrastea · Amalthea · Thebe |
| Galilean moons | Io · Europa · Ganymede · Callisto |
| Themisto | |
| Himalia group | Leda · Himalia · Lysithea · Elara · S/2000 J 11 |
| Carpo · S/2003 J 12 | |
| Ananke group | Ananke · Praxidike · Harpalyke · Iocaste · Euanthe · Thyone (core) Euporie · S/2003 J 3 · S/2003 J 18 · Thelxinoe · Helike · Orthosie · S/2003 J 16 · Hermippe · Mneme · S/2003 J 15 (peripheral) |
| Carme group | S/2003 J 17 · S/2003 J 10 · Pasithee · Chaldene · Arche · Isonoe · Erinome · Kale · Aitne · Taygete · S/2003 J 9 · Carme · S/2003 J 5 · S/2003 J 19 · Kalyke · Eukelade · Kallichore |
| Pasiphaë group | Eurydome · S/2003 J 23 · Hegemone · Pasiphaë · Sponde · Cyllene · Megaclite · S/2003 J 4 · Callirrhoe · Sinope · Autonoe · Aoede · Kore |
| S/2003 J 2 | |
