Ersa (moon)

Ersa is a moon of the planet Jupier. It is also called Jupiter LXXI. Scott S. Sheppard discovered it on on 11 May 2018, using the 4.0- meter Victor M. Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo Observatory,Chile. This discovery was announced with other discoveries about Jupiter moons, on 17 July 2018 . The object got the temporary designation S/2018 J 1 by the Minor Planet Center, after observations were collected over a long enough time span to confirm its orbit. The satellite has been found in precovery observations as early as 6 August 2000.

Ersa is part of the Himalia group, a tight cluster of prograde irregular moons of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Himalia at semi-major axes between 11-12 million km 6.8-7.5 million mi and inclinations between 26-31 . With an estimated diameter of 3 km 1.9 mi for an absolute magnitude ofr 15.9, it is one of the smallest known members of the Himalia group.