S/2003 J 12

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S/2003 J 12
2003 J 12 Gladman CFHT annotated.gif
S/2003 J 12 imaged by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope during follow-up observations in February 2003
Discovery [1]
Discovered by Scott S. Sheppard et al.
Discovery site Mauna Kea Obs.
Discovery date8 February 2003
Orbital characteristics [2]
Epoch 17 December 2020 (JD 2459200.5)
Observation arc 9.65 yr (3,525 d)
Earliest precovery date10 December 2001
0.1441046  AU (21,557,740 km)
Eccentricity 0.3657005
–1.77 yr (–646.64 d)
295.36521°
0° 33m 24.215s / day
Inclination 154.69036° (to ecliptic)
127.52296°
86.84711°
Satellite of Jupiter
Group Ananke group
Physical characteristics
Mean diameter
1 km [3]
Albedo 0.04 (assumed) [3]
23.9 [3]
17.0 [2]

    S/2003 J 12 is a natural satellite of Jupiter, and is one of the smallest known natural satellites in the Solar System. It was discovered by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii led by Scott S. Sheppard in 2003. [4] [1]

    S/2003 J 12 is about 1 kilometre (0.6 miles) in diameter, and orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 21,600  Mm in 647 days, at an inclination of 155° to the ecliptic, in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.366. [2] It was initially thought to the innermost of the retrograde satellites of Jupiter, but recovery observations have shown that it is an ordinary member of the Ananke group. [5]

    Blink animation of S/2003 J 12 in CFHT precovery images from December 2001 2003 J 12 CFHT precovery 2001-12-10.gif
    Blink animation of S/2003 J 12 in CFHT precovery images from December 2001
    Recovery images of S/2003 J 12 taken by the CFHT in August 2011 2003 J 12 CFHT 2011-08-05.gif
    Recovery images of S/2003 J 12 taken by the CFHT in August 2011

    This moon was considered lost [6] [7] [8] [9] until late 2020, when it was recovered in archival CFHT images from 2001-2011 by amateur astronomer Kai Ly. [5] The recovery of the moon was announced by the Minor Planet Center on 13 January 2021. [2]

    Related Research Articles

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Moons of Jupiter</span> Natural satellites of the planet Jupiter

    There are 95 moons of Jupiter with confirmed orbits as of 23 October 2023. 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 composing just 0.003% of the total orbiting mass.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">S/2003 J 2</span>

    S/2003 J 2 is a retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. The moon was discovered on 5 February 2003 by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii led by Scott S. Sheppard and David C. Jewitt, and was later announced on 4 March 2003. It was initially thought to be Jupiter's outermost known moon until recovery observations disproved this in 2020.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Eupheme (moon)</span> Outer moon of Jupiter

    Eupheme, also Jupiter LX, originally known as S/2003 J 3, is an outer natural satellite of Jupiter, 2 km in diameter.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">S/2003 J 4</span> Moon of Jupiter

    S/2003 J 4 is a natural satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii led by Scott S. Sheppard in 2003.

    Eirene, 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 but was then lost. It was recovered in 2017 and given its permanent designation that year.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">S/2003 J 9</span> Moon of Jupiter

    S/2003 J 9 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.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">S/2003 J 10</span> Moon of Jupiter

    S/2003 J 10 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 2003.

    Philophrosyne, also Jupiter LVIII and provisionally known as S/2003 J 15, is a natural satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii led by Scott S. Sheppard, et al. in 2003, but then lost. It was recovered in 2017 and given its permanent designation that year.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">S/2003 J 16</span>

    S/2003 J 16 is a natural satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by a team of astronomers led by Brett J. Gladman in 2003.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Jupiter LV</span> Outer moon of Jupiter

    Jupiter LV, provisionally known as S/2003 J 18, is a natural satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by a team of astronomers led by Brett J. Gladman in 2003.

    Jupiter LXI, provisionally known as S/2003 J 19, is a natural satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by a team of astronomers led by Brett J. Gladman, et al. in 2003.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">S/2003 J 23</span> Natural satellite of Jupiter

    S/2003 J 23 is a natural satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii led by Scott S. Sheppard et al. in 2004 from pictures taken in 2003.

    S/2004 S 12 is a natural satellite of Saturn. Its discovery was announced by Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, Jan Kleyna, and Brian G. Marsden on 4 May 2005 from observations taken between 12 December 2004 and 9 March 2005.

    S/2004 S 17 is a natural satellite of Saturn. Its discovery was announced by Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, Jan Kleyna, and Brian G. Marsden on 4 May 2005 from observations taken between 13 December 2004 and 5 March 2005.

    S/2004 S 13 is a natural satellite of Saturn. Its discovery was announced by Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, Jan Kleyna, and Brian G. Marsden on 4 May 2005 from observations taken between 12 December 2004 and 9 March 2005.

    S/2006 S 1 is a natural satellite of Saturn. Its discovery was announced by Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, Jan Kleyna, and Brian G. Marsden on June 26, 2006 from observations taken between January 4 and April 30, 2006. S/2006 S 1 is about 6 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Saturn at an average distance of 18.65 Gm in 951.1 days, at an inclination of 154.6° to the ecliptic, in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.0814.

    S/2006 S 3 is a natural satellite of Saturn. Its discovery was announced by Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, Jan Kleyna, and Brian G. Marsden on June 26, 2006 from observations taken between January and April 2006.

    S/2007 S 2 is a natural satellite of Saturn. Its discovery was announced by Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, Jan Kleyna, and Brian G. Marsden on May 1, 2007, from observations taken between January 18 and April 19, 2007. S/2007 S 2 is about 6 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Saturn at an average distance of 16,054,500 kilometres in 759.2 days, at an inclination of 176.65° to the ecliptic, in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.237. According to Denk et al. (2018), it is presumably at high risk of colliding with Phoebe in the future.

    Jupiter LXXII, originally known as S/2011 J 1, is a natural satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Scott Sheppard in 2011. It belongs to the Carme group.

    Jupiter LVI, provisionally known as S/2011 J 2, is a natural satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by Scott Sheppard in 2011. Images of the newly discovered moon were captured using the Magellan-Baade telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. It is an irregular moon with a retrograde orbit. The discovery of Jupiter LVI brought the Jovian satellite count to 67. It is one of the outer retrograde swarm of objects orbiting Jupiter and belongs to the Pasiphae group.

    References

    1. 1 2 MPEC 2003-E29: S/2003 J 9, 2003 J 10, 2003 J 11, 2003 J 12; S/2003 J 1, 2003 J 6 April 3, 2003 (discovery and ephemeris)
    2. 1 2 3 4 "MPEC 2021-A169 : S/2003 J 12". Minor Planet Electronic Circular. Minor Planet Center. January 13, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
    3. 1 2 3 S.S. Sheppard (2019), Moons of Jupiter, Carnegie Science, on line
    4. Daniel W. E. Green (March 7, 2003). "IAUC 8089: Satellites of Jupiter". International Astronomical Union.
    5. 1 2 Hecht, Jeff (January 11, 2021). "Amateur Astronomer Finds "Lost" Moons of Jupiter". www.skyandtelescope.com. Sky & Telescope. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
    6. Beatty, Kelly (April 4, 2012). "Outer-Planet Moons Found — and Lost". www.skyandtelescope.com. Sky & Telescope. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
    7. Brozović, Marina; Jacobson, Robert A. (March 9, 2017). "The Orbits of Jupiter's Irregular Satellites". The Astronomical Journal. 153 (4): 147. Bibcode:2017AJ....153..147B. doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/aa5e4d .
    8. Jacobson, B.; Brozović, M.; Gladman, B.; Alexandersen, M.; Nicholson, P. D.; Veillet, C. (September 28, 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.
    9. Sheppard, Scott S. (2017). "New Moons of Jupiter Announced in 2017". home.dtm.ciw.edu. Retrieved June 27, 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.