Carme is a retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Seth Barnes Nicholson at Mount Wilson Observatory in California in July 1938. It is named after the mythological Carme, mother by Zeus of Britomartis, a Cretan goddess.
Lysithea is a prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Seth Barnes Nicholson in 1938 at Mount Wilson Observatory and is named after the mythological Lysithea, daughter of Oceanus and one of Zeus' lovers.
A natural satellite is, in the most common usage, an astronomical body that orbits a planet, dwarf planet, or small Solar System body. Natural satellites are colloquially referred to as moons, a derivation from the Moon of Earth.
Leda, also known as Jupiter XIII, is a prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Charles T. Kowal at the Mount Palomar Observatory on September 14, 1974, after three nights' worth of photographic plates had been taken. It was named after Leda, who was raped by Zeus, the Greek equivalent of Jupiter. Kowal suggested the name and the IAU endorsed it in 1975.
Himalia, also known as Jupiter VI, is the largest irregular satellite of Jupiter. With a diameter of at least 140 km (90 mi), it is the sixth largest Jovian satellite, after the four Galilean moons and Amalthea. It was discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at the Lick Observatory on 3 December 1904 and is named after the nymph Himalia, who bore three sons of Zeus. It is one of the largest planetary moons in the Solar System not imaged in detail, and the third largest not imaged in detail within the orbit of Neptune.
Elara is a prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at Lick Observatory in 1905 in photographs taken with the 36" Crossley reflecting telescope which he had recently rebuilt. It is the eighth-largest moon of Jupiter and is named after Elara, one of Zeus's lovers and the mother of the giant Tityos.
Ananke is a retrograde irregular moon of Jupiter. It was discovered by Seth Barnes Nicholson at Mount Wilson Observatory in 1951. It is named after the Greek mythological Ananke, the personification of necessity, and the mother of the Moirai (Fates) by Zeus. The adjectival form of the name is Anankean.
Pasiphae, formerly spelled Pasiphaë, is a retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered in 1908 by Philibert Jacques Melotte and later named after the mythological Pasiphaë, wife of Minos and mother of the Minotaur from Greek legend.
Sinope is a retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter discovered by Seth Barnes Nicholson at Lick Observatory in 1914, and is named after Sinope of Greek mythology.
Themisto, also known as Jupiter XVIII, is a small prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered in 1975, subsequently lost, and rediscovered in 2000.
There are 95 moons of Jupiter with confirmed orbits as of 5 February 2024. This number does not include a number of meter-sized moonlets thought to be shed from the inner moons, nor hundreds of possible kilometer-sized outer irregular moons that were only briefly captured by telescopes. All together, Jupiter's moons form a satellite system called the Jovian system. The most massive of the moons are the four Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, which were independently discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei and Simon Marius and were the first objects found to orbit a body that was neither Earth nor the Sun. Much more recently, beginning in 1892, dozens of far smaller Jovian moons have been detected and have received the names of lovers or daughters of the Roman god Jupiter or his Greek equivalent Zeus. The Galilean moons are by far the largest and most massive objects to orbit Jupiter, with the remaining 91 known moons and the rings together comprising just 0.003% of the total orbiting mass.
Skathi, also named Saturn XXVII and originally spelled Skadi, is a natural satellite of the planet Saturn. Skathi is one of Saturn's irregular moons, in its Norse group of satellites. It was discovered on September 23, 2000, by a team of astronomers led by Brett Gladman. The team announced their discovery on December 7, 2000, along with seven other satellites of Saturn, namely; Tarvos, Ijiraq, Thrymr, Siarnaq, Mundilfari, Erriapus, and Suttungr. The moon was named after Skaði, a figure in Norse mythology, as part of an effort to diversify the largely Greek and Roman names of astronomical objects.
Uranus, the seventh planet of the Solar System, has 28 confirmed moons. Most of them are named after characters that appear in, or are mentioned in, the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. Uranus's moons are divided into three groups: thirteen inner moons, five major moons, and ten irregular moons. The inner and major moons all have prograde orbits and are cumulatively classified as regular moons. In contrast, the orbits of the irregular moons are distant, highly inclined, and mostly retrograde.
The planet Neptune has 16 known moons, which are named for minor water deities and a water creature in Greek mythology. By far the largest of them is Triton, discovered by William Lassell on 10 October 1846, 17 days after the discovery of Neptune itself. Over a century passed before the discovery of the second natural satellite, Nereid, in 1949, and another 40 years passed before Proteus, Neptune's second-largest moon, was discovered in 1989.
The Ananke group is a group of retrograde irregular satellites of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Ananke and are thought to have a common origin.
The Carme group is a group of retrograde irregular satellites of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Carme and are thought to have a common origin.
In astronomy, an irregular moon, irregular satellite, or irregular natural satellite is a natural satellite following a distant, inclined, and often highly elliptical and retrograde orbit. They have been captured by their parent planet, unlike regular satellites, which formed in orbit around them. Irregular moons have a stable orbit, unlike temporary satellites which often have similarly irregular orbits but will eventually depart. The term does not refer to shape; Triton, for example, is a round moon but is considered irregular due to its orbit and origins.
Retrograde motion in astronomy is, in general, orbital or rotational motion of an object in the direction opposite the rotation of its primary, that is, the central object. It may also describe other motions such as precession or nutation of an object's rotational axis. Prograde or direct motion is more normal motion in the same direction as the primary rotates. However, "retrograde" and "prograde" can also refer to an object other than the primary if so described. The direction of rotation is determined by an inertial frame of reference, such as distant fixed stars.
Valetudo, also known as Jupiter LXII and originally known as S/2016 J 2, is an irregular moon of Jupiter. It was discovered by Scott S. Sheppard and his team in data acquired by the 6.5-m Magellan-Baade telescope of the Las Campanas Observatory in 2016, but was not announced until 17 July 2018, via a Minor Planet Electronic Circular from the Minor Planet Center, which also reported the discovery of nine other of Jupiter's moons. Besides data from Las Campanas, the original announcement also referred to data acquired through the 8.1-m Gemini North telescope of the Mauna Kea Observatories as well as the 4.0-m reflector of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.
Ersa, also designated Jupiter LXXI, is a small outer natural satellite of Jupiter discovered by Scott S. Sheppard on 11 May 2018, using the 4.0-meter Víctor M. Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo Observatory, Chile. It was announced alongside nine other Jovian moons on 17 July 2018 and was provisionally designated S/2018 J 1 by the Minor Planet Center, after observations were collected over a long enough time span to confirm the satellite's orbit. The satellite has been found in precovery observations as early as 6 August 2000.
