Hermippe , or , is a
natural satellite
A natural satellite is, in the most common usage, an astronomical body that orbits a planet, dwarf planet, or small Solar System body (or sometimes another natural satellite). Natural satellites are often colloquially referred to as ''moons'' ...
of
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...
. It was discovered concurrently with
Eurydome
According to Lucius Annaeus Cornutus' ''Compendium Theologiae Graecae'', Eurydome (Ευρυδόμη; "Structure Outside the Areas") was the mother of the Graces by Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian A ...
by a team of astronomers from the
Institute for Astronomy of the
University of Hawaii
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
led by
David Jewitt
David Clifford Jewitt (born 1958) is a British-American astronomer who studies the Solar System, especially its minor bodies. He is based at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he is a Member of the Institute for Geophysics and Pl ...
and
Scott S. Sheppard
Scott Sander Sheppard (born 1977) is an American astronomer and a discoverer of numerous moons, comets and minor planets in the outer Solar System.
He is an astronomer in the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution for Scie ...
and
Jan Kleyna
Jan T. Kleyna is a postdoctoral astronomy researcher at the University of Hawai'i
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities t ...
in 2001, and given the temporary designation .
[MPEC 2002-J54: ''Eleven New Satellites of Jupiter''](_blank)
May 15, 2002 (discovery and ephemeris)
Hermippe is about 4 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 21,500,000 kilometers in about 630 days, at an
inclination
Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object.
For a satellite orbiting the Eart ...
of 151° to the
ecliptic
The ecliptic or ecliptic plane is the orbital plane of the Earth around the Sun. From the perspective of an observer on Earth, the Sun's movement around the celestial sphere over the course of a year traces out a path along the ecliptic agains ...
(149° to Jupiter's equator), in a
retrograde direction and with an
eccentricity
Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to:
* Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal"
Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics
* Off-Centre (geometry), center, in geometry
* Eccentricity (g ...
of 0.2290.
It was named in August 2003 by the
IAU
The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach ...
, after
Hermippe, a lover of
Zeus
Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...
(Jupiter).
IAUC 8177: ''Satellites of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus''
2003 August (naming the moon)
Hermippe belongs to the Ananke group, retrograde irregular moons which orbit Jupiter between 19.3 and , at inclinations of roughly 150°.
References
External links
Jupiter's Known Satellites
(by Scott S. Sheppard
Scott Sander Sheppard (born 1977) is an American astronomer and a discoverer of numerous moons, comets and minor planets in the outer Solar System.
He is an astronomer in the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution for Scie ...
)
New Jupiter Satellite Movie Images
(image)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hermippe (Moon)
Ananke group
Irregular satellites
Moons of Jupiter
Discoveries by Scott S. Sheppard
Discoveries by David C. Jewitt
Discoveries by Jan Kleyna
20011209
Moons with a retrograde orbit