Pasiphae group

The Pasiphae Group is a group of moons on the planet Jupiter that move in similar orbits.

The major semi-axes of their orbits run between 22.8 and 24.1 million km, have eccentricities between 0.25 and 0.43 and inclinations ( orbital inclinations ) between 144.5 ° and 158.3 °, whereby the moons are retrograde , d. H. against the direction of rotation of Jupiter to move around the planet.

The thirteen members of the group are (with increasing distance from Jupiter):

• Eurydome
• S / 2003 J 23
• Hegemone
• Pasiphae , the largest moon and namesake
• Sponde
• Cyllene
• Megaclite
• S / 2003 J 4
• Callirrhoe
• Sinope
• Autonoe
• Aoede
• Kore

Unlike the other retrograde groups of Jupiter's moons, the Ananke group and the Carme group , the orbital inclinations of the Pasiphae group are relatively different. Presumably it is an older group in which the orbits of the members were gravitationally disturbed over very long periods of time .

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) gives names to the retrograde moons of Jupiter with the ending e .