Lysithea is a prograde

Prograde

Prograde can refer to:*Prograde or direct motion, in astronomy, a type of motion of astronomical bodies* Prograde metamorphism, in geology, describes mineral changes in rocks under increasing pressure and/or temperature conditions...

 irregular

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....

 satellite

Natural satellite

A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....

 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 Seth Barnes Nicholson

Seth Barnes Nicholson

Seth Barnes Nicholson was an American astronomer.Nicholson was born in Springfield, Illinois and was raised in rural Illinois...

 in 1938 at Mount Wilson Observatory

Mount Wilson Observatory

The Mount Wilson Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The MWO is located on Mount Wilson, a 5,715 foot peak in the San Gabriel Mountains near Pasadena, northeast of Los Angeles...

 and is named after the mythological Lysithea

Lysithea (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Lysithea was a daughter of Oceanus and one of Zeus' lovers.Alternatively, Lysithea is another name for Semele, daughter of Cadmos and Harmonia; sister to Agave, Autonoë, Ino, and Polydorus; mother of Dionysos by Zeus .Yet another Lysithea is listed by Clementine literature's...

, daughter of Oceanus

Oceanus

Oceanus ; , Ōkeanós) was a pseudo-geographical feature in classical antiquity, believed by the ancient Greeks and Romans to be the world-ocean, an enormous river encircling the world....

 and one 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...

' lovers.

Lysithea didn't receive its present name until 1975; before then, it was simply known as . It was sometimes called "Demeter

Demeter

In Greek mythology, Demeter is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains, the fertility of the earth, and the seasons . Her common surnames are Sito as the giver of food or corn/grain and Thesmophoros as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society...

" from 1955 to 1975.

It belongs to the Himalia group

Himalia group

The Himalia group is a group of prograde irregular satellites of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Himalia and are thought to have a common origin.The known members of the group are :* Leda...

, five moons orbiting between 11 and 13 Gm from Jupiter at an inclination of about 28.3°. Its orbital elements are as of January 2000. They are continuously changing due to solar

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

 and planetary perturbations.

External links

• Lysithea Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
• David Jewitt pages
• Jupiter's Known Satellites (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...
  
  )