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Lysithea

 
Dictionary: Ly·sith·e·a   (lī-sĭth'ē-ə) pronunciation

n.
A satellite of Jupiter.

[Probably from Greek Lūsithoē, daughter of Oceanus and mother of Herakles.]


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Columbia Encyclopedia: Lysithea
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Lysithea (lĭsĭth'ēə), in astronomy, one of the 39 known moons, or natural satellites, of Jupiter.


Wikipedia: Lysithea (moon)
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Lysithea
Discovery
Discovered by S. B. Nicholson
Discovery date July 6, 1938[1]
Mean orbit radius 11,720,000 km[2]
Eccentricity 0.11[2]
Orbital period 259.20 d (0.69 a)[2]
Average orbital speed 3.29 km/s
Inclination 28.30° (to the ecliptic)
25.77° (to Jupiter's equator)[2]
Satellite of Jupiter
Physical characteristics
Mean radius 18 km[3]
Surface area ~4100 km²
Volume ~24,400 km³
Mass 6.3 × 1016 kg
Mean density 2.6 g/cm³ (assumed)[3]
Equatorial surface gravity ~0.013 m/s2 (0.001 g)
Escape velocity ~0.022 km/s
Albedo 0.04 (assumed)[3]
Temperature ~124 K

Lysithea (pronounced /laɪˈsɪθiə/ lye-SITH-ee-ə, /lɨˈsɪθiə/ li-SITH-ee-ə, or as in Greek Λυσιθέα) is a prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Seth Barnes Nicholson in 1938 at Mount Wilson Observatory[1] and is named after the mythological Lysithea, daughter of Oceanus and one of Zeus' lovers.[4]

Lysithea didn't receive its present name until 1975; before then, it was simply known as Jupiter X. It was sometimes called "Demeter"[5] from 1955 to 1975.

It belongs to the Himalia group, five moons orbiting between 11 and 13 Gm from Jupiter at an inclination of about 28.3°.[2] Its orbital elements are as of January 2000. They are continuously changing due to Solar and planetary perturbations.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Nicholson, S.B. (1938). "Two New Satellites of Jupiter". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 50: 292–293. doi:10.1086/124963. http://adsabs.harvard.edu//full/seri/PASP./0050//0000292.000.html. 
  2. ^ a b c d e Jacobson, R.A. (2000). "The orbits of outer Jovian satellites". Astronomical Journal 120: 2679–2686. doi:10.1086/316817. 
  3. ^ a b c "Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters". JPL (Solar System Dynamics). 2008-10-24. http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/?sat_phys_par. Retrieved 2008-12-12. 
  4. ^ Marsden, B. G. (1974-10-07). "Satellites of Jupiter". IAUC Circular 2846. http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iauc/02800/02846.html. 
  5. ^ Payne-Gaposchkin, Cecilia; Katherine Haramundanis (1970). Introduction to Astronomy. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-134-78107-4. 

External links


Best of the Web: Lysithea
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Some good "Lysithea" pages on the web:


Greek Mythology
www.pantheon.org
 
 
 
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Jupiter I-XVII (astronomy)
Seth Barnes Nicholson (American astronomer)
Lysithea

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lysithea (moon)" Read more