NSDF- Natural Satellites Data Files

NSDC/Natural Satellites Data Center

GUIDE FOR THE SATELLITES OF JUPITER

The planet Jupiter has rings and three families of satellites, orbiting around it:

the rings were discovered by the space probe Voyager in 1979 and are observable from Earth only in the infrared wavelengths.
the inner satellites: these satellites are orbiting inside the orbit of Io, the first galilean satellite and outside the main ring. Because of the closeness of the planet, they are very difficult to observe. Infrared observations are necessary in order to decrease the contrast brightness between the planet and the satellites.
the galilean satellites: these satellites are bright, similar to inner planets, and easily observable even in a small telescope. They could be seen with the naked eyes if the bright planet Jupiter was not so close to them. Their observations are easy to make and they present phenomena due to the closeness and the size of the planet Jupiter.
the outer satellites: these satellites are orbiting outside the orbit of Callisto, the farthest galilean satellite. They are very faint due to their small sizes and their orbits are neither circular, nor in the equatorial plane of Jupiter as the inner and the galilean satellites. They are observable as asteroids, independantly of the planet Jupiter far from them. Only their faintness is a difficulty for their observation.

The tables below provide the main characteristics of these satellites.

The rings

Rings and inner satellites:	Distance to the center of Jupiter	Size of the ring	Thickness	Albedo
Halo	92 000 km	30 500 km	20 000 km	0.05
main ring	122 500 km	52 060 km	less than 30 km	0.05
satellite Metis (J-16)	128 000 km	-	-	-
Gossamer inside	128 940 km	52 060 km	?	0.05
satellite Adrasthea (J-15)	129 000 km	-	-	-
Gossamer outside	181 000 km	40 000 km	?	0.05
satellite Amalthea (J-5)	181 000 km	-	-	-

The inner satellites

	Metis - J 16	Adrasteia - J 15	Amalthea - J 5	Thebe - J 14
semi-major axis in km	127 979	128 980	181 200	221 895
period of revolution	7h 4.5m	7h 9.5m	11h 57.4m	16h 11.3m
eccentricity	<0.005	<0.005	0.003	0.015
inclination on the jovian equator	<0.1 °	<0.3 °	0.4 °	0.8°
size in km	40	26 x 20 x 16	262 x 146 x 134	55 x 55 x 45
highest magnitude at the opposition	17.5	18.9	14.1	15.7
maximum apparent geocentric distance to Jupiter at opposition	41.8 arcsec	42.3 arcsec	59.4 arcsec	72.8 arcsec

The galilean satellites

	Io - J 1	Europa - J 2	Ganymedes - J 3	Callisto - J 4
semi-major axis in km	422 000	671 000	1 070 000	1 883 000
period of revolution	1.769 138 d	3.551 181 d	7.154 553 d	16.689 018 d
eccentricity	0.004	0.009	0.002	0.007
inclination on the jovian equator	0.02 to 0.04 °	0.42 to 0.51 °	0.06 to 0.30 °	0.15 to 0.74°
size in km	3637	3130	5268	4806
highest magnitude at the opposition	5.02	5.29	4.61	5.65
maximum apparent geocentric distance to Jupiter at opposition	2 min 27 arcsec	3 min 54 arcsec	6 min 13 arcsec	10 min 56 arcsec

The outer satellites
The outer satellites present also several families of satellites since some have retrograde orbits:

the direct satellites (known as "Himalia" family)

the retrograde satellites (known as "Pasiphae" family)

The "Himalia" family: direct revolution

satellites:	a in km	P in days	eccentricity	inclination	d in km	m_v	ap
S/2000 J1 - Themisto - J 18	7 450 000	130	0.20	46°	8	21	0.72°
? (S/2003 J6)	10 943 414	234	0.7593650	22.41299°	3	22.5	1.04°
? (S/2003 J1)	10 999 886	236	0.7915189	35°.16912	3	22.5	1.05°
S/1974 J1 - Leda - J 13	11 150 000	240.5	0.116 to 0.210	27.46°	10	20	1.08°
Himalia - J 6	11 443 000	250.1	0.112 to 0.207	27.50°	170	14.8	1.11°
Lysithea - J 10	11 700 000	258.5	0.081 to 0.155	28.30°	24	18.4	1.13°
Elara - J 7	11 716 000	259.1	0.155 to 0.272	26.63°	80	16.8	1.13°
S/2000 J11	12 623 008	288.5	0.2152076	28.55170°	4	22.4	1.22°
S/2003 J20 - Carpo - J 46	17 056 041	455.07	0.2949233	55.14678°	3.4	22.7	1.60°

The "Pasiphae" family: retrograde revolution

satellites:	a in km	P in days	eccentricity	inclination	d in km	m_v	ap
S/2003 J3	18 290 718	505	0.2414308	143.72940°	1	23.6	1.74°
S/2003 J12	18 951 537	533.0	0.3759365	145.75566	1.3	23.8	1.82°
S/2001 J10 - Euporie - J 34	19 509 118	555.2	0.1013045	146.36697°	2.5	23.0	1.89°
S/2000 J10 - Chaldene - J 21	20 299 459	591.7	0.1553197	165.62039°	3.8	22.3	1.96°
S/2003 J16	20 434 426	596.76	0.2686663	148.62255°	1.5	23.0	1.98°
S/2003 J21- Mneme - J 40	20 500 279	599.65	0.2079635	147.95000°	2.5	23.1	1.99°
S/2003 J6 - Helike - J 45	20 540 266	601.40	0.1374936	154.58669°	1.2	23.5	1.99°
S/2000 J3 - Iocaste - J 24	20 642 860	606.3	0.2686209	149.90562°	5.2	21.8	2.00°
S/2003 J18	20 682 998	607.68	0.1382573	146.46769°	2.0	23.0	2.00°
S/2001 J2 - Thyone - J 29	20 769 899	610.0	0.2832751	148.28637°	3	22.1	2.01°
S/2001 J9 - Orthosie - J 35	20 849 889	613.6	0.2862675	140.90225°	2	23.1	2.02°
S/2000 J5 - Harpalyke - J 22	20 917 717	617.3	0.2002700	149.28845°	4.3	22.2	2.02°
S/2001 J7 - Euanthe - J33	20 983 136	620.9	0.1427372	146.02964°	2.5	23.3	2.03°
S/2000 J7 - Praxidike - J 27	21 098 102	624.6	0.1458198	146.35342°	6.8	21.2	2.04°
Ananke - J 12	21 048 000	624.1	0.083 to 0.452	148.9°	20	18.9	2.04°
S/2001 J3 - Hermippe - J 30	21 047 986	624.6	0.2479097	149.78466°	4	21.8	2.04°
S/2003 J22 - Telxinoe - J 42	21 316 679	635.82	0.2383310	150.96450°	2	22.7	2.08°
S/2000 J9 - Taygete - J 20	21 671 854	650.1	0.2460425	163.54516°	5	21.9	2.10°
S/2000 J4 - Erinome - J 25	21 867 753	661.1	0.3464728	160.90878°	3.2	22.4	2.12°
S/2003 J15	22 011 816	667.17	0.1126740	140.84784°	1.4	23.3	2.13°
S/2001 J11 - Aitne - J 31	22 274 405	679.3	0.3112272	164.34322°	3	23.2	2.15°
S/2001 J8 - Kale - J 37	22 300 644	679.4	0.3250225	164.79435°	2	22.5	2.16°
S/2003 J11 - Kallichore - J 44	22 335 351	681.94	0.2233774	163.86678	1	23.4	2.16°
S/2003 J9	22 381 517	684.0	0.2687371	164.45956	1.3	23.6	2.16°
S/2003 J17	22 510 605	689.98	0.1868664	163.73957°	2.0	23.0	2.17°
S/2001 J5 - Sponde - J 36	22 548 244	690.3	0.5188893	155.21973°	2	23.0	2.18°
S/2003 J19	22 745 922	700.83	0.3336170	162.90141°	1.5	23.5	2.20°
S/2000 J6 - Isonoe - J 26	22 804 699	704.9	0.2809114	165.03895°	3.8	22.5	2.21°
S/2003 J8 - Hegemone - J 39	23 006 327	715	0.2494340	152.32987°	3	22.5	2.23°
S/2003 J4	23 195 569	722	0.2044198	144.86276°	2	22.7	2.24°
Carme - J 11	23 280 000	726.3	0.132 to 0.414	164.9°	30	18.0	2.25°
S/2000 J8 - Megaclite - J 19	23 439 084	734.1	0.5277172	151.69961°	5.4	21.5	2.27°
S/2003 J1 - Eukelade - J 47	23 485 280	735.27	0.2827807	163.99770°	2.5	23.1	2.27°
S/2003 J13 - Cyllene - J 48	23 544 835	737.80	0.4118488	141.00635°	2.5	23.0	2.28°
Pasiphae - J 8	23 658 000	744.2	0.184 to 0.668	151.4°	36	17.0	2.29°
S/2003 J7 - Aoede - J 41	23 743 830	747	0.4050509	159.40791°	1.3	23.6	2.29°
S/2002 J1 - Arche - J 43	23 765 118	748.7	0.2236835	163.25372°	3.5	23.0	2.30°
S/2001 J6 - Pasithee - J 38	23 780 137	748.76	0.2795065	165.56765	1.8	23.2	2.30°
S/2001 J4 - Eurydone - J 32	23 830 940	752.4	0.3255418	150.42990°	2.5	22.6	2.31°
Sinope - J 9	23 848 000	753.2	0.108 to 0.425	158.1°	28	18.3	2.31°
S/2003 J23	23 991 011	759.15	0.3089309	149.22383°	1.3	23.6	2.32°
S/2003 J5	24 019 614	761	0.2095471	165.00518°	3.5	22.0	2.32°
S/2000 J2 - Kalyke - J 23	24 135 612	767	0.3177403	165.79188°	5	21.5	2.33°
S/2003 J10	24 184 590	768.4	0.2137608	164.09424	1.8	23.6	2.33°
S/2001 J1 - Autonoe - J 28	24 413 086	778.0	0.4586342	152.05566°	4	22.0	2.36°
S/1999 J1 - Callirhoe - J 17	24 596 240	736	0.206	143°	8	20.5	2.38°
S/2003 J14 - Kore - J 49	24 974 033	807.20	0.2217381	140.88606°	1.7	23.3	2.40°
S/2003 J2	28 493 817	983	0.3797206	151.82729°	2	23.2	2.71°

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