Sponde (moon)
Sponde or Jupiter XXXVI, is a moon of Jupiter. It was found by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii led by Scott S. Sheppard in 2001, and given the designation S/2001 J 5.[1][2]
Sponde is about 2 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 24,253,000 km in 771.604 days, at an inclination of 154° to the ecliptic (156° to Jupiter's equator), with an orbital eccentricity of 0.443.
It was named in August 2003 after one of the Horae (Hours), which presided over the seventh hour (libations poured after lunch).[3] The Hours, goddesses of the time of day but also of the seasons, were daughters of Zeus (Jupiter) and Themis.
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
- ↑ IAUC 7900: Satellites of Jupiter 2002 May 16 (discovery)
- ↑ MPEC 2002-J54: Eleven New Satellites of Jupiter 2002 May 15 (discovery and ephemeris)
- ↑ IAUC 8177: Satellites of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus 2003 August 8 (naming the moon)
