Universe & space

Discovery of Pasithee

11 December 2001

Pasithee is a small irregular moon of Jupiter, about two kilometres across, belonging to the Carme group of retrograde moons. They orbit the planet at a great distance in the opposite direction to its rotation, and are thought to be pieces of a larger object that was captured and then broken apart. Pasithee was discovered in a survey of Jupiter's outer moons by astronomers at the University of Hawaii. It is named after Pasithea, one of the Graces or Charites in Greek mythology, in keeping with the practice of naming Jupiter's moons after lovers and descendants of Zeus.

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