S/2003 J 16 facts for kids

S/2003 J 16 is a small moon that goes around the giant planet Jupiter. It was discovered by a group of scientists in 2003. This team was led by an astronomer named Brett J. Gladman.

About S/2003 J 16

S/2003 J 16 is a very tiny moon. It is only about 2 kilometers wide. That's like the length of about 20 football fields!

Its Journey Around Jupiter

This little moon travels very far from Jupiter. On average, it is about 20,744,000 kilometers away. It takes S/2003 J 16 a long time to complete one trip around Jupiter. It takes about 610 days, which is almost two years!

The moon's path around Jupiter is not a perfect circle. It's a bit stretched out, which scientists call an orbital eccentricity. Its path is also tilted quite a bit compared to Jupiter's main path around the Sun. This tilt is called its inclination.

The Ananke Group

S/2003 J 16 is part of a family of moons called the Ananke group. These are all small moons that orbit Jupiter in a special way. They are called "irregular" moons because their orbits are not smooth and round like the bigger, "regular" moons.

Moons in the Ananke group travel in the opposite direction to Jupiter's spin. This is called a retrograde orbit. Most of these moons are not round like Earth's Moon. They are more like oddly shaped rocks. They orbit Jupiter at distances between 19,300,000 and 22,700,000 kilometers. Their orbits are also tilted at about 150 degrees.

Images for kids

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  Recovery image of S/2003 J 16 on 8 September 2010 (circled)