Callirrhoe (moon) facts for kids
Callirrhoe or Jupiter XVII, is one of Jupiter's farthest named moons. It was found by Spacewatch on October 6, 1999 and originally designated as an asteroid (1999 UX18). It was found to be in orbit around Jupiter by Tim Spahr on July 18, 2000, and then given the designation S/1999 J 1.
Callirrhoe is about 8.6 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 24,356,000 km in 776.543 days, at an inclination of 141° to the ecliptic (140° to Jupiter's equator), with an orbital eccentricity of 0.264.
It was named in October 2002 after Callirhoe, daughter of the river god Achelous, one of Zeus' (Jupiter's) many conquests.
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°.
As a navigation exercise, the New Horizons spacecraft imaged it on January 10, 2007.
Images for kids
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Stack of three images taken by the VLT in July 2000, showing Callirrhoe's movement relative to background stars
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Callirrhoe imaged by the LORRI instrument aboard New Horizons
See also
In Spanish: Calírroe (satélite) para niños
