Helike (moon)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Helike (hel'-ə-kee, IPA: [ˈhɛləki]; Greek Ἑλίκη), or Jupiter XLV, is a moon of Jupiter. It was discovered by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii led by Scott S. Sheppard in 2003, and given the temporary designation S/2003 J 6.
Helike is about 4 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 20,540 Mm in 601.402 days, at an inclination of 155° to the ecliptic (156° to Jupiter's equator), in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.1375.
It is named after Helike, one of the nymphs that nurtured Zeus (Jupiter) in his infancy on Crete.
Helike belongs to the Ananke group, retrograde irregular moons which orbit Jupiter between 19.3 and 22.7 Gm, at inclinations of roughly 150°.
 edit Jupiter's natural satellites |
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| Inner satellites | Galilean moons | Themisto | Himalia group | Carpo | S/2003 J 12 | Ananke group | Carme group | Pasiphaë group | S/2003 J 2 |
| See also: Pronunciation key | Rings of Jupiter |
