Thyone (moon)

Thyone (/θaɪˈoʊniː/ thy-OH-nee; Greek: Θυώνη), also known as Jupiter XXIX, 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, et al. in 2001, and given the temporary designation S/2001 J 2.[1][2]

Thyone is about 4 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 21.406 million kilometres in 639.803 days, at an inclination of 147° to the ecliptic (147° to Jupiter's equator) with an eccentricity of 0.2526. Its average orbital speed is 2.43 km/s.

It was named in August 2003 after Thyone, better known as Semele, mother of Dionysus in Greek mythology.[3]

Thyone belongs to the Ananke group, retrograde irregular moons which orbit Jupiter between 19.3 and 22.7 million kilometres, at inclinations of roughly 150°.

References

  1. ↑ IAUC 7900: Satellites of Jupiter 2002 May 16 (discovery)
  2. ↑ MPEC 2002-J54: Eleven New Satellites of Jupiter 2002 May (discovery and ephemeris)
  3. ↑ IAUC 8177: Satellites of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus 2003 August (naming the moon)
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