Dia (moon)
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Dia Template:IPAc-en, also known as Jupiter LIII, is a prograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. Provisionally known as S/2000 J 11, it received its name on March 7, 2015.<ref name="CBET4075">CBET (Central Bureau Electronic Telegram) 4075: 20150307: Satellites of Jupiter, March 7, 2015</ref> It is named after Dia, daughter of Deioneus (or Eioneus), wife of Ixion. According to Homer, she was seduced by Zeus in stallion form; Pirithous was the issue.
The satellite is one of several known small bodies in the Himalia group.<ref name="SheppardJewitt2003">Sheppard, S. S.; Jewitt, D. C.; An abundant population of small irregular satellites around Jupiter Template:Webarchive, Nature, 423 (May 2003), pp. 261–263</ref>
Dia is thought to be about 4 kilometres in diameter.<ref name="SheppardJewittPorco2004">Sheppard, S. S.; Jewitt, D. C.; Porco, C.; Jupiter's outer satellites and Trojans Template:Webarchive, in Jupiter: The planet, satellites and magnetosphere, edited by Fran Bagenal, Timothy E. Dowling, William B. McKinnon, Cambridge Planetary Science, Vol. 1, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, Template:ISBN, 2004, pp. 263-280</ref> It orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 12 million km in 274 days, at an inclination of 28° (to Jupiter's equator), and with an eccentricity of 0.21.<ref name="MPEC2012-R22"/>
Observational history
Dia was discovered by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii led by Scott S. Sheppard in 2000 with an observation arc of 26 days.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Initial observations were not followed up, and Dia was not observed for more than a decade after 2000. This apparent disappearance led some astronomers to consider the moon lost.<ref name="JPL-SSD">Template:Cite web</ref> One theory was that it had crashed into Himalia, creating a faint ring around Jupiter.<ref>"Lunar marriage may have given Jupiter a ring", New Scientist, March 20, 2010, p. 16.Template:Subscription required</ref> However, it was finally recovered in observations made in 2010 and 2011.<ref name="MPEC2012-R22">Template:Cite web</ref>
References
External links
- Natural Satellites Ephemeris Service Minor Planet Center
- Planetary Satellite Mean Orbital Parameters NASA JPL
- Scott Sheppard pages
- David Jewitt pages