A+Century+of+Physics+1985+JUPITERS+MOONS

The first claimed observation of one of Jupiter's moons is that of the Chinese astronomer [|Gan De] around 364 BC.[|[][|7][|]] However, the first certain observations of Jupiter's satellites were those of [|Galileo Galilei] in 1609.[|[][|8][|]] By March 1610, he had sighted the four massive [|Galilean moons] with his 30x [|magnification] [|telescope]:[|[][|9][|]] [|Ganymede], [|Callisto], [|Io], and [|Europa]. No additional satellites were discovered until [|E. E. Barnard] observed [|Amalthea] in 1892.[|[][|10][|]] With the aid of telescopic photography, further discoveries followed quickly over the course of the twentieth century. [|Himalia] was discovered in 1904,[|[][|11][|]] [|Elara] in 1905,[|[][|12][|]] [|Pasiphaë] in 1908,[|[][|13][|]] [|Sinope] in 1914,[|[][|14][|]] [|Lysithea] and [|Carme] in 1938,[|[][|15][|]] [|Ananke] in 1951,[|[][|16][|]] and [|Leda] in 1974.[|[][|17][|]] By the time [|Voyager space probes] reached Jupiter around 1979, 13 moons had been discovered; while [|Themisto] was observed in 1975,[|[][|18][|]] but due to insufficient initial observation data, it was lost until 2000. The Voyager missions discovered an additional three inner moons in 1979: [|Metis], [|Adrastea], and [|Thebe].[|[][|19][|]] For two decades no additional moons were discovered; but between October 1999 and February 2003, researchers using sensitive ground-based detectors found and later named another 34 moons, most of which were discovered by a team led by [|Scott S. Sheppard] and [|David C. Jewitt].[|[][|20][|]] These are tiny moons, in long, [|eccentric], generally [|retrograde orbits], and average of 3 km (1.9 mi) in diameter, with the largest being just 9 km (5.6 mi) across. All of these moons are thought to be captured [|asteroidal] or perhaps [|cometary] bodies, possibly fragmented into several pieces,[|[][|21][|]] but very little is actually known about them. A number of 16 additional moons have been discovered but not yet named since 2003,[|[][|22][|]] bringing the total number of known moons of Jupiter to 67.[|[][|1][|]] As of 2013, this is the most of any planet in the Solar System, but additional undiscovered, [|tiny moons] may exist.

The planet [|Jupiter] has 67 confirmed [|moons].[|[][|1][|]] This gives it the largest retinue of moons with "reasonably secure" orbits of any planet in the __[|Solar System]__.[|[][|2][|]] The most massive of them, the four [|Galilean moons], were discovered in 1610 by [|Galileo Galilei] and were [|the first objects] found to orbit a body that was neither Earth nor the Sun. From the end of the 19th century, dozens of much smaller Jovian moons have been discovered and have received the names of lovers, conquests, or daughters of the [|Roman god] [|Jupiter], or his [|Greek predecessor], [|Zeus]. The Galilean moons are by far the largest and most massive objects in orbit around Jupiter, with the remaining 63 moons and the rings together comprising just 0.003 percent of the total orbiting mass. Eight of Jupiter's moons are //regular satellites//, with [|prograde] and nearly circular orbits that are not greatly [|inclined] with respect to Jupiter's equatorial plane. The Galilean satellites are [|ellipsoidal] in shape, due to having [|planetary mass], and so would be considered [|(dwarf) planets] if they were in direct orbit about the Sun. The other four regular satellites are much smaller and closer to Jupiter; these serve as sources of the dust that makes up [|Jupiter's rings]. The remainder of Jupiter's moons are //[|irregular satellites]//, whose prograde and [|retrograde orbits] are much farther from Jupiter and have high [|inclinations] and [|eccentricities]. These moons were probably captured by Jupiter from solar orbits. There are 17 recently discovered irregular satellites that have not yet been named.



RESOURSES

[]) [] []) []) [])