Harpalyke (moon)
Encyclopedia
Harpalyke also known as , is a retrograde irregular satellite
Irregular satellite
In astronomy, an irregular moon is a natural satellite following a distant, inclined, and often eccentric and retrograde orbit. They are believed to have been captured by their parent planet, unlike regular satellites, which form in situ....

  of Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...

. It was discovered by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...

 led by Scott S. Sheppard
Scott S. Sheppard
Scott S. Sheppard is an astronomer in the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution for Science. Starting as a graduate student at the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, he was credited with the discovery of many small moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and...

 in 2000, and given the temporary designation . In August 2003, the moon was named after Harpalyke
Harpalyke
Harpalyke may refer to .*A character in Greek mythology:**Harpalyke, a daughter of Harpalykos, King of Thrace. She was raised as a hunter** Harpalyke, a daughter of Klymenos , who married her incestuously against her will...

, the incestuous daughter of Klymenos, who was in some accounts a lover of Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

 (Jupiter).

Harpalyke belongs to the Ananke group
Ananke group
The Ananke group is a group of retrograde irregular satellites of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Ananke and are thought to have a common origin....

, believed to be the remnants of a break-up of a captured heliocentric asteroid. It is about 4 kilometres in diameter and appears grey (color index
Color index
In astronomy, the color index is a simple numerical expression that determines the color of an object, which in the case of a star gives its temperature...

 R-V=0.43), similar to C-type asteroid
C-type asteroid
C-type asteroids are carbonaceous asteroids. They are the most common variety, forming around 75% of known asteroids, and an even higher percentage in the outer part of the asteroid belt beyond 2.7 AU, which is dominated by this asteroid type...

s. The satellite orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 21,064 Mm in 624.542 days, at an inclination
Inclination
Inclination in general is the angle between a reference plane and another plane or axis of direction.-Orbits:The inclination is one of the six orbital parameters describing the shape and orientation of a celestial orbit...

 of 147° to the ecliptic
Ecliptic
The ecliptic is the plane of the earth's orbit around the sun. In more accurate terms, it is the intersection of the celestial sphere with the ecliptic plane, which is the geometric plane containing the mean orbit of the Earth around the Sun...

 (147° to Jupiter's equator) with an eccentricity of 0.2441.

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