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Leda , also known as , is a prograde Leda and the Swan
/ref> by
Leda Overview
b
NASA's Solar System Exploration
(by
irregular satellite
In astronomy, an irregular moon, irregular satellite or irregular natural satellite is a natural satellite following a distant, inclined, and often eccentric and retrograde orbit. They have been captured by their parent planet, unlike regular s ...
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 by Charles T. Kowal at the Mount Palomar Observatory
Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in San Diego County, California, United States, in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Research time at the observat ...
on September 14, 1974, after three nights' worth of photographic plates had been taken (September 11 through 13; Leda appears on all of them). It was named after Leda, who was raped/ref> by
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 ...
, the Greek equivalent of Jupiter (who came to her in the form of a swan). Kowal suggested the name and the IAU endorsed it in 1975.
Leda belongs to the Himalia group, moons orbiting between 11 and 13 Gm from Jupiter at an inclination of about 27.5°. The orbital elements given here are as of January 2021, but they are continuously changing due to solar and planetary perturbations.
See also
*Jupiter's moons in fiction
Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System, has appeared in works of fiction across several centuries. The way the planet has been depicted has evolved as more has become known about its composition; it was initially portrayed as being entir ...
References
External links
Leda Overview
b
NASA's Solar System Exploration
(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 ...
)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leda (Moon)
Himalia group
Moons of Jupiter
Irregular satellites
Discoveries by Charles T. Kowal
19740911
Moons with a prograde orbit