Inner moons of Jupiter

The inner moons of Jupiter  are four small moons that orbit close to Jupiter. These moons are closely interconnected with the rings of Jupiter and serve as both sources and sinks of the ring's material. Their semi-major axes range between 128,000 and 222,000 km.

The members of the group are (in order from closest to farthest):
 Metis
 Adrastea
 Amalthea, the biggest, after which the group is sometimes named
 Thebe

Metis and Adrastea each orbit Jupiter in less than one Jovian day (the time it takes for Jupiter to rotate once).  Phobos, a moon of Mars, is the only other moon known to orbit its planet in less than the length of that planet's day.

Gallery of images

Related pages
List of Jupiter's moons

References

Category:Jupiter's moons