Eirene
Discovery
Discovered byScott Sheppard et al.
Discovery date2003
Designations
Designation
Jupiter LVII
Pronunciation/aɪˈriːniː/
Named after
Εἰρήνη Eirēnē
S/2003 J 5
AdjectivesEirenean /aɪrɪˈniːən/
Orbital characteristics [1]
23731770 km
Eccentricity0.2413
−743.88 days[2]
(2.038 years)
Inclination162.713° (to the ecliptic)
Satellite ofJupiter
GroupCarme group
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter
4 km
22.5
15.8[2]

Eirene /aɪˈriːniː/, also Jupiter LVII and originally known as S/2003 J 5, 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 2003[3][4] but was then lost.[5][6][7][8] It was recovered in 2017 and given its permanent designation that year.[9]

Characteristics

Eirene is about 4 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 23,974,000 km in 743.88 days, at an inclination of 166° to the ecliptic (167° to Jupiter's equator), in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.307.

It belongs to the Carme group, made up of irregular retrograde moons orbiting Jupiter at a distance ranging between 23 and 24 Gm and at an inclination of about 165°.

Name

The moon was named in 2019 after Eirene (Εἰρήνη), the daughter of Zeus and Themis and the goddess of peace in Greek mythology; the name originated from a naming contest held on Twitter with sixteen tweets suggesting the name, most significantly by users Quadrupoltensor (@Quadrupoltensor) who first suggested the name and PaulR (@PJRYYC).[10][11][12]

References

  1. ^ S.S. Sheppard (2019), Moons of Jupiter, Carnegie Science, on line
  2. ^ a b "M.P.C. 105250" (PDF). Minor Planet Circular. Minor Planet Center. 9 June 2017.
  3. ^ IAUC 8087: Satellites of Jupiter 2003 March 4 (discovery)
  4. ^ MPEC 2003-E11: S/2003 J 1, 2003 J 2, 2003 J 3, 2003 J 4, 2003 J 5, 2003 J 6, 2003 J 7 2003 March 4 (discovery and ephemeris)
  5. ^ Beatty, Kelly (4 April 2012). "Outer-Planet Moons Found — and Lost". www.skyandtelescope.com. Sky & Telescope. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
  6. ^ Brozović, Marina; Jacobson, Robert A. (9 March 2017). "The Orbits of Jupiter's Irregular Satellites". The Astronomical Journal. 153 (4): 147. Bibcode:2017AJ....153..147B. doi:10.3847/1538-3881/aa5e4d.
  7. ^ Jacobson, B.; Brozović, M.; Gladman, B.; Alexandersen, M.; Nicholson, P. D.; Veillet, C. (28 September 2012). "Irregular Satellites of the Outer Planets: Orbital Uncertainties and Astrometric Recoveries in 2009–2011". The Astronomical Journal. 144 (5): 132. Bibcode:2012AJ....144..132J. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/144/5/132. S2CID 123117568.
  8. ^ Sheppard, Scott S. (2017). "New Moons of Jupiter Announced in 2017". home.dtm.ciw.edu. Retrieved 27 June 2017. We likely have all of the lost moons in our new observations from 2017, but to link them back to the remaining lost 2003 objects requires more observations a year later to confirm the linkages, which will not happen until early 2018. ... There are likely a few more new moons as well in our 2017 observations, but we need to reobserve them in 2018 to determine which of the discoveries are new and which are lost 2003 moons.
  9. ^ Sheppard, Scott S. (2017). "Jupiter's Known Satellites". home.dtm.ciw.edu. Archived from the original on 18 March 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  10. ^ "Planetary Names: Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers".
  11. ^ "Naming Contest for Newly-discovered Moons of Jupiter". www.iau.org. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  12. ^ "Public Contest Successfully Finds Names For Jupiter's New Moons". www.iau.org. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
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