Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Thebe (moon)
 Image of Thebe taken by the Galileo spacecraft on January 4, 2000. | |||||||
| Discovery | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovered by | Stephen P. Synnott / Voyager 1 | ||||||
| Discovered in | March 5, 1979 | ||||||
| Orbital characteristics | |||||||
| Mean radius | 221,900 km | ||||||
| Eccentricity | 0.0018 | ||||||
| Revolution period | 16h 11.3m | ||||||
| Inclination | 1.070° | ||||||
| Is a satellite of | Jupiter | ||||||
| Physical characteristics | |||||||
| Mean diameter | 98.6 km | ||||||
| Surface area | km2 | ||||||
| Mass | 7.557×1017 kg | ||||||
| Mean density | 1.45 g/cm3 | ||||||
| Surface gravity | 0.0201m/s2 | ||||||
| Surface Gravity (Earth = 1) | 0.00205 | ||||||
| Rotation period | 16h 11.3m | ||||||
| Axial tilt | 0.001° | ||||||
| Albedo | 0.047 | ||||||
| Surface temp. |
| ||||||
| Atmospheric pressure | 0 kPa | ||||||
Thebe (thee'-bee, IPA ; Greek Θήβη) is the fourth of Jupiter's known moons by distance from the planet. It was discovered by Voyager 1 on March 5, 1979 and was first given the temporary name S/1979 J 2. Later, it was found on images dating back to February 27, 1979. In 1983 it was officially named after the mythological nymph Thebe who was the daughter of the river god Asopus. It is also designated Jupiter XIV.
It is the outermost of the inner Jovian moons ("Amalthea group").
There appear to be at least three or four very large impact craters on the satellite (very large in the sense that each of these craters is roughly comparable in size to the radius of Thebe). Little else is known about it.
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Last updated: 07-13-2005 20:58:37
10-26-2009 08:16:03
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details