Sponde (moon) facts for kids

Sponde, also known as Jupiter XXXVI, is one of the many moons that orbit the giant planet Jupiter. Scientists found Sponde in 2001. A team from the University of Hawaii, led by Scott S. Sheppard, made this discovery. At first, it was given a temporary name: S/2001 J 5.

About Sponde

Sponde is a small moon, only about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) wide. That's roughly the size of a small town! It travels around Jupiter very far away.

Its Orbit Around Jupiter

Sponde orbits Jupiter at an average distance of about 24,253,000 kilometers (15,070,000 miles). It takes a long time to complete one trip around Jupiter: about 771 days. This is more than two Earth years!

Sponde's path around Jupiter is not flat like a disc. It is tilted at an angle of 154 degrees compared to the ecliptic. The ecliptic is the imaginary line where the Sun and planets appear to move. Sponde's orbit is also quite stretched out, not a perfect circle. This stretched shape is called its orbital eccentricity.

How Sponde Got Its Name

Sponde was officially named in August 2003. It is named after one of the Horae (Hours) from ancient Greek stories. The Horae were goddesses who looked after the different times of day and the seasons. Sponde was the goddess of the seventh hour, which was when people poured out drinks (libations) after lunch.

These goddesses, the Horae, were believed to be the daughters of Zeus and Themis. In Roman mythology, Zeus is known as Jupiter, the same name as the planet.

Sponde's Moon Family

Sponde belongs to a group of moons called the Pasiphaë group. These moons are special because they are not round like Earth's Moon. They also orbit Jupiter in the opposite direction to Jupiter's spin. This is called a retrograde orbit.

The moons in the Pasiphaë group orbit Jupiter at distances between 22,800,000 and 24,100,000 kilometers. Their orbits are also tilted, ranging from 144.5 to 158.3 degrees.