Dia/ˈdaɪ.ə/, also known as Jupiter LIII, is a progradeirregular satellite of Jupiter. Provisionally known as S/2000 J 11, it received its name on March 7, 2015.[3] It is named after Dia, daughter of Deioneus (or Eioneus), wife of Ixion. According to Homer, she was seduced by Zeus in stallion form; Pirithous was the issue.
The satellite is one of several known small bodies in the Himalia group.[4]
Dia is thought to be about 4 kilometres in diameter.[5] It orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 12 million km in 274 days, at an inclination of 28° (to Jupiter's equator), and with an eccentricity of 0.21.[6]
Observational history
Dia imaged by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in December 2001. In the second frame Dia is not visible due to Jupiter's glare reducing the relative brightnesses of the stars.
Initial observations were not followed up, and Dia was not observed for more than a decade after 2000. This apparent disappearance led some astronomers to consider the moon lost.[9] One theory was that it had crashed into Himalia, creating a faint ring around Jupiter.[10] However, it was finally recovered in observations made in 2010 and 2011.[6]
References
^Noah Webster (1884) A Practical Dictionary of the English Language
^Sheppard, S. S.; Jewitt, D. C.; Porco, C.; Jupiter's outer satellites and TrojansArchived June 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, in Jupiter: The planet, satellites and magnetosphere, edited by Fran Bagenal, Timothy E. Dowling, William B. McKinnon, Cambridge Planetary Science, Vol. 1, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, ISBN0-521-81808-7, 2004, pp. 263-280
