Aitne (moon) facts for kids

Aitne or Jupiter XXXI is one of the many moons orbiting the giant planet Jupiter. It's not perfectly round like Earth's Moon, but more of an irregular shape.

Aitne was discovered in 2001 by a team of astronomers. This team was led by Scott S. Sheppard from the University of Hawaii. When it was first found, it was given the temporary name S/2001 J 11.

About Aitne

Aitne is quite small, only about 3 kilometres (about 1.8 miles) across. It travels around Jupiter very far away, at an average distance of about 22,285,000 kilometres (about 13.8 million miles).

It takes Aitne a long time to complete one orbit around Jupiter: about 679.641 days, which is almost two Earth years! Its path around Jupiter is also quite tilted, at an angle of 166 degrees compared to the ecliptic (the plane where most planets orbit the Sun). Its orbit is also a bit stretched out, not a perfect circle.

How Aitne Got Its Name

Aitne got its official name in August 2003. It was named after Aitna, or Aitne, from ancient Greek stories. She was believed to be the spirit of Mount Etna, a famous volcano.

In these stories, Aitne had sons with Zeus, who is the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter. Her sons were the Palici, who were twin gods of geysers in Sicily.

Part of the Carme Group

Aitne is part of a family of moons called the Carme group. This group includes several other small, irregularly shaped moons that orbit Jupiter.

These moons all travel very far from Jupiter, usually between 23,000,000 and 24,000,000 kilometres away. They also have a similar tilted orbit, around 165 degrees. What's interesting is that these moons orbit Jupiter in the opposite direction to Jupiter's rotation. This is called a retrograde orbit.

See also

In Spanish: Aitné (satélite) para niños