Leda (moon)
Leda or Jupiter XIII, is a moon of Jupiter. Unlike many moons, it is not a sphere. Charles T. Kowal found it working at the Mount Palomar Observatory on September 14, 1974. He took photographs for three nights September 11 through 13. Leda is in all of the photographs.[1][4] The moon'S name come from Leda in Greek mythology. She was one of Zeus's lovers. Zeus is the Greek equivalent of Jupiter. Zeus came to Leda in the shape of a swan. Kowal suggested the name and the IAU supported it in 1975.[5]
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Charles T. Kowal |
| Discovery date | September 11, 1974[1] |
| Orbital characteristics | |
Mean orbit radius | 11,160,000 km[2] |
| Eccentricity | 0.16[2] |
| 240.92 d (0.654 a)[2] | |
Average orbital speed | 3.4 km/s |
| Inclination | 27.46° (to the ecliptic) 29.01° (to Jupiter's equator)[2] |
| Satellite of | Jupiter |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean radius | 10 km |
| ~1250 km² | |
| Volume | ~4200 km³ |
| Mass | 1.1×1016 kg |
Mean density | 2.6 g/cm³ (assumed) |
| ~0.0073 m/s2 (0.001 g) | |
| ~0.012 km/s | |
| Albedo | 0.04 (assumed) |
| Temperature | ~124 K |
| 20.2 [3] | |
Leda belongs to the Himalia group. They are five moons orbiting between 11,000,000 and 13,000,000 km from Jupiter at an inclination of about 27.5°.[2] The orbital elements given here are as of January 2000, but they are changing a lot because gravity effects from the sun and planets.
Leda (moon) Media
Single-exposure image of Leda by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft in 2010
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kowal, C. T.; Aksnes, K.; Marsden, B. G.; Roemer, E. (1974). "Thirteenth satellite of Jupiter". Astronomical Journal. 80: 460–464. doi:10.1086/111766.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Jacobson, R. A. (2000). "The orbits of outer Jovian satellites". Astronomical Journal. 120 (5): 2679–2686. Bibcode:2000AJ....120.2679J. doi:10.1086/316817. S2CID 120372170.
- ↑ "Leda Statistics". Retrieved 2007-10-01.
- ↑ IAUC 2702: Probable New Satellite of Jupiter 1974 September 20 (discovery)
- ↑ Marsden, B. G. (7 October 1974). "Satellites of Jupiter". IAUC Circular. 2846.
Other websites
- Leda Profile Archived 2015-08-03 at the Wayback Machine by NASA's Solar System Exploration
- David Jewitt pages
- Scott Sheppard pages
