S/2021 J 6 | |
Discoverer: | Scott S. Sheppard David J. Tholen Chad Trujillo |
Discovery Site: | Mauna Kea Obs. |
Discovered: | 5 September 2021 |
Epoch: | 25 February 2023 (JD 2460000.5) |
Observation Arc: | 12.04 yr (4,396 d) |
Earliest Precovery Date: | 2 October 2010 |
Eccentricity: | 0.3625334 |
Period: | –2.01 yr (–732.55 days) |
Mean Anomaly: | 77.36574° |
Mean Motion: | / day |
Inclination: | 166.49991° |
Asc Node: | 172.60903° |
Arg Peri: | 254.84930° |
Satellite Of: | Jupiter |
Group: | Carme group |
Mean Diameter: | ≈ |
Magnitude: | 23.9 |
Abs Magnitude: | 17.3 |
S/2021 J 6 is a small outer natural satellite of Jupiter discovered by Scott S. Sheppard, David J. Tholen, and Chad Trujillo on 5 September 2021, using the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii. It was announced by the Minor Planet Center on 20 January 2023, after observations were collected over a long enough time span to confirm the satellite's orbit. The satellite has been found in precovery observations as early as 2 October 2010.
S/2021 J 6 is part of the Carme group, a tight cluster of retrograde irregular moons of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Carme at semi-major axes between NaNe6km, orbital eccentricities between 0.2–0.3, and inclinations between 163–166°. It has a diameter of about for an absolute magnitude of 17.3, making it one of Jupiter's smallest known moons.