Erinome (moon) facts for kids

Erinome, also known as Jupiter XXV, is one of the many moons orbiting the giant planet Jupiter. It's not perfectly round like Earth's Moon. Instead, it has an irregular, non-spherical shape.

About Erinome

This small moon was first spotted in 2000. A team of astronomers found it while working at the University of Hawaii. The team was led by a scientist named Scott S. Sheppard. When they first found it, they gave it a temporary name: S/2000 J 4.

How Big is Erinome?

Erinome is quite small, only about 3.2 kilometers (about 2 miles) across. That's roughly the size of a small town!

Erinome's Orbit Around Jupiter

Erinome orbits Jupiter at a very far distance. It is about 22,986,000 kilometers (about 14.3 million miles) away from the planet. It takes a long time for Erinome to complete one trip around Jupiter. One orbit takes about 712 days, which is almost two Earth years!

Erinome's orbit is also tilted. Its path is at an angle of 164 degrees compared to the main plane where most planets orbit the Sun. This tilt means it orbits Jupiter "backwards" compared to Jupiter's rotation. This kind of orbit is called a retrograde orbit. The moon's path is also not a perfect circle. It is a bit stretched out, which astronomers call an eccentric orbit.

How Erinome Got Its Name

In October 2002, this moon was officially named Erinome. The name comes from Erinome in Roman mythology. She was a figure linked to Jupiter, the king of the gods.

The Carme Group

Erinome is part of a family of moons called the Carme group. This group includes several small, non-spherical moons. All these moons orbit Jupiter in a similar way. They are all quite far from Jupiter, orbiting between 23 million and 24 million kilometers away. Like Erinome, all moons in the Carme group have a high orbital tilt, around 165 degrees. They also all orbit Jupiter in a retrograde direction.

Images for kids

• 

  A robot, often used to represent technology and learning.