Megaclite (moon)

Megaclite or , is a moon of Jupiter. It was found by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii led by Scott S. Sheppard in 2000, and given the designation .IAUC 7555: Satellites of Jupiter  2001 January 5 (discovery)MPEC 2001-A29: S/2000 J 7, S/2000 J 8, S/2000 J 9, S/2000 J 10, S/2000 J 11  2001 January 15 (discovery and ephemeris)MPEC 2001-T59: S/2000 J 8, S/2000 J 9, S/2000 J 10  2011 October 15 (revised ephemeris)

Megaclite is about 5.4 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 24,687,000 km in 792.437 days, at an inclination of 150° to the ecliptic (148° to Jupiter's equator), with an orbital eccentricity of 0.308.

It was named in October 2002 after Megaclite, mother by Zeus (Jupiter) of Thebe and Locrus (although both of these are assigned a different father by other authors).IAUC 7998: Satellites of Jupiter 2002 October 22 (naming the moon "Magaclite")IAUC 8023: Satellites of Jupiter  2002 November 29 (correcting the name)

It belongs to the Pasiphaë group, non-spherical retrograde moons orbiting Jupiter at distances ranging between 22,800,000 and 24,100,000 km, and with inclinations ranging between 144.5° and 158.3°.

 References 

Category:Jupiter's moons