Himalia (moon)

C. D. Perrine

Himalia ( Jupiter VI ) is the largest of the outer or irregular moons of Jupiter.

Discovery

Himalia was discovered on December 3, 1904 by the astronomer Charles Dillon Perrine at the Lick Observatory ( San Jose, CA ).

It was named after the moon nymph Himalia, a lover of Zeus in Greek mythology. The official name was given only in 1975, before Himalia was called Jupiter Moon VI.

Path data

Himalia orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 11,461,000 km in 250.56 days. The track has an eccentricity of about 0.16 to about 27.5 ° relative to the local Laplace plane which coincides approximately with the plane of the path of Jupiter, inclined.

Himalia is the namesake and also the largest member of a group of moons, which move on similar orbits around Jupiter. To Himalia Group owns the moons Leda, Himalia, Lysithea and Elara.

Physical data

Himalia has an average diameter of 170 km. Their density is 2.6 g / cm ³ relatively high, indicating that it is predominantly composed of silicate rock. It has a very dark surface with an albedo of 0.04. In 7 hours and 46 minutes and 55 ± 2 seconds, it is rotated about its own axis. On 19 December 2000, the Cassini spacecraft sent to Earth Himalias shots as she passed Jupiter on its way to Saturn. Since these were made from a distance, no details on its surface can be seen.