Iocaste (moon) explained

Iocaste
Adjective:	Iocastean ^[1]
Named After:	Ιοκάστη Iokástē or Jocasta
Mpc Name:	Jupiter XXIV
Alt Names:	S/2000 J 3
Discovery Ref:	 
Discoverer:	Scott S. Sheppard David C. Jewitt Yanga R. Fernandez Eugene A. Magnier
Discovered:	23 November 2000
Orbit Ref:	 
Epoch:	17 December 2020 (JD 2459200.5)
Observation Arc:	17.39 yr (6,350 days)
Eccentricity:	0.3294908
Period:	–640.97 d
Mean Motion:	/ day
Inclination:	149.42446° (to ecliptic)
Asc Node:	343.53045°
Arg Peri:	110.27239°
Mean Diameter:	5 km
Mean Radius:	1.6 miles (2.6 km)
Albedo:	0.04 (assumed)
Magnitude:	21.8
Abs Magnitude:	15.5

Iocaste, also known as , is a retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii including: David C. Jewitt, Yanga R. Fernandez, and Eugene Magnier led by Scott S. Sheppard in 2000, and given the temporary designation .^{[2] [3]}

Iocaste orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 20.723 million kilometers in 632 earth days, at an inclination of 147° to the ecliptic (146° to Jupiter's equator) with an eccentricity of 0.2874.

It was named in October 2002 after Jocasta,^[4] the mother/wife of Oedipus in Greek mythology. The name ending in "e" was chosen in accordance with the International Astronomical Union's policy for designating outer moons with retrograde orbits.

Iocaste belongs to the Ananke group, believed to be the remnants of a break-up of a captured heliocentric asteroid.^{[5] [6]}

The satellite is about 5 kilometres in diameter^[7] and appears grey (colour indices B−V=0.63, R−V=0.36), similar to C-type asteroids.^[8]

See also

• Moons of Jupiter
• Praxidike

Further reading

• Ephemeris IAU-MPC NSES
• Mean orbital parameters NASA JPL

Notes and References

1. Kin'ya Tsuruta (1996) Shiga Naoya's A Dark Night's Passing, p. 92
2. Web site: Daniel W. E. Green . International Astronomical Union Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams . Satellites of Jupiter . January 5, 2001.
3. Web site: Brian G. Marsden . S/2000 J 2, S/2000 J 3, S/2000 J 4, S/2000 J 5, S/2000 J 6 . January 5, 2001. International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center.
4. Web site: Daniel W. E. Green . International Astronomical Union Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams . Comet P/2002 T5 (Linear) . October 22, 2002.
5. Sheppard, S. S.; Jewitt, D. C.; "An Abundant Population of Small Irregular Satellites Around Jupiter", Nature, Vol. 423 (May 2003), pp. 261–263
6. [David Nesvorný|Nesvorný, D.]
7. Sheppard, S. S.; Jewitt, D. C.; Porco, C. C.; "Jupiter's Outer Satellites and Trojans", in Jupiter: The Planet, Satellites and Magnetosphere, edited by Fran Bagenal, Timothy E. Dowling, and William B. McKinnon, Cambridge Planetary Science, Vol. 1, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press,, 2004, pp. 263–280
8. [Tommy Grav|Grav, T.]