Valetudo (moon)
Precovery images of Valetudo taken by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on 28 February 2003 | |
| Discovery[1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Scott S. Sheppard et al. |
| Discovery site | Las Campanas Obs. |
| Discovery date | 9 March 2016 |
| Designations | |
Designation | Jupiter LXII |
| Pronunciation | /væləˈtjuːdoʊ/ |
Named after | Roman name for the Greek goddess, Hygieia |
| S/2016 J 2 | |
| Adjectives | Valetudian |
| Orbital characteristics[2] | |
| Epoch 17 December 2020 (JD 2459200.5) | |
| Observation arc | 15.22 yr (5,558 d) |
| Earliest precovery date | 26 February 2003 |
| 0.1257974 AU (18,819,020 km) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.2018315 |
| +1.44 yr (+527.41 d) | |
| 201.41718° | |
| 0° 40m 57.274s / day | |
| Inclination | 32.03294° (to the ecliptic) |
| 235.45916° | |
| 122.37546° | |
| Satellite of | Jupiter |
| Group | (own group) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 1 km[3] | |
| 24.0[3] | |
| 17.0 | |
Valetudo /væləˈtjuːdoʊ/, also known as Jupiter LXII and originally known as S/2016 J 2, is an irregular moon of Jupiter. It was discovered by Scott S. Sheppard and his team in data acquired by the 6.5-m Magellan-Baade telescope of the Las Campanas Observatory in 2016, but was not announced until 17 July 2018, via a Minor Planet Electronic Circular from the Minor Planet Center, which also reported the discovery of nine other of Jupiter's moons.[1] Besides data from Las Campanas, the original announcement also referred to data acquired through the 8.1-m Gemini North telescope of the Mauna Kea Observatories as well as the 4.0-m reflector of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.[4]
Characteristics
Valetudo has a diameter of about 1 km (0.6 mi) and orbits Jupiter at a distance of about 19 million kilometres (12 million miles). Its orbital inclination is 34 degrees, and its orbital eccentricity is 0.222.[3] It has a prograde orbit which takes almost a year and a half to complete, but it crosses paths with several other moons that have retrograde orbits and may in the future collide with them.[6]
Name
The moon was provisionally designated as S/2016 J 2 until it received its name in 2018. Sheppard proposed the name Valetudo, after the Roman goddess of health and hygiene (a Latin translation of Greek Hygieia 'Health') and a great-granddaughter of the god Jupiter. The name also alluded to Sheppard's girlfriend, whom he joked about being cleanly.[7] The name conforms with the naming conventions for Jupiter moons set out by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), according to which a name ending in -o indicates a high inclination.[8] The name was approved by the IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature on 3 October 2018.[9]
References
- ^ a b "MPEC 2018-O09 : S/2016 J 2". Minor Planet Center. International Astronomical Union. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
- ^ "M.P.C. 128893" (PDF). Minor Planet Circular. Minor Planet Center. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ^ a b c Sheppard, Scott S. "Moons of Jupiter". sites.google.com. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
- ^ "A dozen new moons of Jupiter discovered, including one "oddball"". Earth & Planets Laboratory. Carnegie Institution for Science. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
- ^ Sheppard, Scott S.; Tholen, David J.; Alexandersen, Mike; Trujillo, Chadwick A. (24 May 2023). "New Jupiter and Saturn Satellites Reveal New Moon Dynamical Families". Research Notes of the AAS. 7 (5): 100. doi:10.3847/2515-5172/acd766.
- ^ Strickland, Ashley. "12 new moons discovered around Jupiter". CNN International. CNN. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
- ^ Carlson, Erika K. (17 July 2018). "Jupiter's Got Twelve New Moons — One is a Bit of a Problem Child". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
- ^ Antonietta Barucci, M. (2008). "Irregular Satellites of the Giant Planets" (PDF). In M. Antonietta Barucci; Hermann Boehnhardt; Dale P. Cruikshank; Alessandro Morbidelli (eds.). The Solar System Beyond Neptune. p. 414. ISBN 9780816527557. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
- ^ USGS Astrogeology Science Center, Nomenclature News: Name Approved for Jovian Satellite: Valetudo