Taygete (moon) facts for kids
Taygete or Jupiter XX is a moon of Jupiter. It is not perfectly round, meaning it is a non-spherical moon. A team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii, led by Scott S. Sheppard and others, found Taygete in 2000. They first called it S/2000 J 9.
Taygete is about 5 kilometers (3 miles) wide. It travels around Jupiter at an average distance of 22,439,000 kilometers (13,943,000 miles). It takes about 687 days for Taygete to complete one orbit around Jupiter. Its orbit is tilted about 165 degrees compared to the ecliptic (the path the Sun seems to take across the sky). Its orbit is also a bit stretched out, which astronomers call an orbital eccentricity of 0.3678.
Discovery and Naming of Taygete
Taygete was officially named in October 2002. It got its name from Taygete, a figure in ancient Greek stories. She was one of the Pleiades, who were seven sisters. Taygete was also the daughter of the powerful Titan Atlas. In mythology, she was the mother of Lacedaemon by Zeus, who is the Greek god equivalent to the Roman god Jupiter.
Taygete's Family: The Carme Group
Taygete is part of a group of moons called the Carme group. This group includes several moons that are not perfectly round. They all orbit Jupiter in a "retrograde" direction. This means they orbit in the opposite direction to Jupiter's spin.
These moons are found orbiting Jupiter at distances between 23,000,000 and 24,000,000 kilometers (about 14,300,000 to 14,900,000 miles). Their orbits are also tilted by about 165 degrees.
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