S/2003 J 23 Explained

S/2003 J 23
Discovery Ref: 
Discoverer:Scott S. Sheppard et al.
Discovery Site:Mauna Kea Obs.
Discovered:6 February 2003 (imaged)
January 2004 (announced)
Orbit Ref: 
Epoch:17 December 2020 (JD 2459200.5)
Observation Arc:14.22 yr (5,193 d)
Eccentricity:0.3207567
Period:–2.17 yr (–792.00 d)
Mean Anomaly:257.08447°
Mean Motion: / day
Inclination:146.15464°
Asc Node:142.40639°
Arg Peri:295.73090°
Satellite Of:Jupiter
Group:Pasiphae group
Mean Diameter:
Albedo:0.04
Magnitude:23.6
Abs Magnitude:16.6

is a natural satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii led by Scott S. Sheppard et al. in 2004 from pictures taken in 2003.[1] [2]

is about 2 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 24,700 Mm in about 792 days, at an inclination of 146° to the ecliptic, in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.321.

It belongs to the Pasiphae group, irregular retrograde moons orbiting Jupiter at distances ranging between 22.8 and 24.1 Gm, and with inclinations ranging between 144.5° and 158.3°.

This moon was considered lost[3] [4] [5] [6] until late 2020, when it was recovered by Sheppard and independently by amateur astronomer Kai Ly.[7] The recovery of the moon was announced by the Minor Planet Center on 13 January 2021, while additional recovery observations by Sheppard were later published on 27 January 2021.

Notes and References

  1. http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iauc/08200/08281.html IAUC 8281: S/2003 J 23
  2. https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/mpec/K04/K04B81.html MPEC 2004-B81: S/2003 J 23
  3. Web site: Outer-Planet Moons Found — and Lost . Beatty . Kelly . 4 April 2012 . www.skyandtelescope.com . Sky & Telescope . 27 June 2017.
  4. Brozović . Marina . Jacobson . Robert A. . 9 March 2017 . The Orbits of Jupiter's Irregular Satellites . The Astronomical Journal . 153 . 4 . 147 . 10.3847/1538-3881/aa5e4d. 2017AJ....153..147B . free .
  5. Jacobson . B. . Brozović . M. . B. . Gladman . M. . Alexandersen . P. D. . Nicholson . C. . Veillet . 28 September 2012 . Irregular Satellites of the Outer Planets: Orbital Uncertainties and Astrometric Recoveries in 2009–2011 . The Astronomical Journal . 144 . 5 . 132 . 10.1088/0004-6256/144/5/132 . 2012AJ....144..132J . 123117568 . free .
  6. Web site: New Moons of Jupiter Announced in 2017 . Sheppard . Scott S. . 2017 . home.dtm.ciw.edu . 27 June 2017 . We likely have all of the lost moons in our new observations from 2017, but to link them back to the remaining lost 2003 objects requires more observations a year later to confirm the linkages, which will not happen until early 2018. ... There are likely a few more new moons as well in our 2017 observations, but we need to reobserve them in 2018 to determine which of the discoveries are new and which are lost 2003 moons..
  7. Web site: Amateur Astronomer Finds "Lost" Moons of Jupiter . Hecht . Jeff . 2021-01-11 . www.skyandtelescope.com . Sky & Telescope . 2021-01-11.