Iocaste (moon)

Not to be confused with the minor planet named 899 Jokaste.
Iocaste
Discovery
Discovered by Scott S. Sheppard
Discovery date 23 November 2000 [1]
Designations
Jupiter XXIV
Adjectives Ionian
Orbital characteristics
Periapsis 16,696,393 km (0.111 608 AU)
Apoapsis 25,847,607 km (0.172 780 AU)
Mean orbit radius
 21,272,000 km (0.142 194 AU)
Eccentricity 0.2874
Satellite of Jupiter
Physical characteristics
Mean radius
 2.6 km
84.95 km2 (0.082 Earths)
Volume 74 km3 (6.8×10−11 Earths)
Mass 1.9483×1014 kg (3.26×10−11 Earths)
Mean density
 2.6 g/cm3
0.002 m/s2 (0.0002 g)
11  km/h[1]

    Iocaste (/aɪ.ɵˈkæstiː/ eye-o-KAS-tee; Greek: Ιοκάστη), also known as Jupiter XXIV, is a retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii led by Scott S. Sheppard in 2000, and given the temporary designation S/2000 J 3.[2][3]

    Iocaste orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 20,723 Mm in 609.427 days, at an inclination of 147° to the ecliptic (146° to Jupiter's equator) with an eccentricity of 0.2874.

    It was named in October 2002 after Jocasta,[4] the mother/wife of Oedipus in Greek mythology.

    Iocaste belongs to the Ananke group, believed to be the remnants of a break-up of a captured heliocentric asteroid.[5][6]

    The satellite is about 5 kilometres in diameter[7] and appears grey (colour indices B-V=0.63, R-V=0.36), similar to C-type asteroids.[8]

    References

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Iocaste: Facts & Figures". NA. Retrieved 2015-03-29.
    2. ↑ IAUC 7555: Satellites of Jupiter January 5, 2001 (discovery)
    3. ↑ MPEC 2001-A28: S/2000 J 2, S/2000 J 3, S/2000 J 4, S/2000 J 5, S/2000 J 6 January 5, 2001 (discovery and ephemeris)
    4. ↑ IAUC 7998: Satellites of Jupiter 2002 October 22 (naming the moon)
    5. ↑ Sheppard, S. S.; Jewitt, D. C.; An Abundant Population of Small Irregular Satellites Around Jupiter, Nature, Vol. 423 (May 2003), pp. 261–263
    6. ↑ Nesvorný, D.; Alvarellos, J. L. A.; Dones, L.; and Levison, H. F.; Orbital and Collisional Evolution of the Irregular Satellites, The Astronomical Journal, Vol. 126 (2003), pp. 398–429
    7. ↑ Sheppard, S. S.; Jewitt, D. C.; Porco, C. C.; Jupiter's Outer Satellites and Trojans, in Jupiter: The Planet, Satellites and Magnetosphere, edited by Fran Bagenal, Timothy E. Dowling, and William B. McKinnon, Cambridge Planetary Science, Vol. 1, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-81808-7, 2004, pp. 263–280
    8. ↑ Grav, T.; Holman, M. J.; Gladman, B. J.; and Aksnes, K.; Photometric survey of the irregular satellites, Icarus, Vol. 166 (2003), pp. 33–45

    Further reading