Discovery of Eupheme

Eupheme is a small irregular moon of Jupiter, only about two kilometres in diameter, that orbits the planet at a great distance in a retrograde direction. It is one of a large number of faint outer moons discovered since the late twentieth century by astronomers using wide-field cameras on powerful telescopes. Such moons are believed to be captured asteroids or fragments of them, left in the outer regions around Jupiter by collisions. Eupheme was found in a survey by astronomers at the University of Hawaii, and it takes its name from a figure of Greek myth, in accordance with the practice of naming Jupiter's moons after lovers and descendants of Zeus.

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