Megaclite , also known as , is a

natural satellite A natural satellite is, in the most common usage, an astronomical body that orbits a planet, dwarf planet, or small Solar System body (or sometimes another natural satellite). Natural satellites are often colloquially referred to as ''moons ...

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandt ...

. It was discovered by a team of astronomers from the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

led by

Scott S. Sheppard Scott Sander Sheppard (born 1977) is an American astronomer and a discoverer of numerous moons, comets and minor planets in the outer Solar System. He is an astronomer in the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution for Scie ...

in 2000, and given the temporary designation .MPEC 2001-A29: ''S/2000 J 7, S/2000 J 8, S/2000 J 9, S/2000 J 10, S/2000 J 11''
2001 January 15 (discovery and ephemeris) Megaclite is about 6 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 24,687,000 kilometers in 747.09 days, at an

inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a Plane of reference, reference plane and the orbital plane or Axis of rotation, axis of direction of the orbiting object ...

of 150° to the

ecliptic The ecliptic or ecliptic plane is the orbital plane of the Earth around the Sun. From the perspective of an observer on Earth, the Sun's movement around the celestial sphere over the course of a year traces out a path along the ecliptic agai ...

(148° to Jupiter's equator), in a retrograde direction and with an

eccentricity Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to: * Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal" Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics * Off- center, in geometry * Eccentricity (graph theory) of a ...

of 0.308. It was named in October 2002 after

Megaclite Megaclite , also known as , is a natural satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii led by Scott S. Sheppard in 2000, and given the temporary designation .Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion, ...

(Jupiter) of

Thebe Thebe may refer to: * Any of several female characters in Greek mythology - see List of mythological figures named Thebe * Thebe (moon), a moon of Jupiter * Thebe (currency), 1/100 of a Botswana pula * Thebe, an Amazon * Thebe, alternate name ...

and

Locrus In Greek mythology, the name Locrus or Lokros (; Ancient Greek: Λοκρός) may refer to: * Locrus, the king of Locris and son of his predecessor King Physcius. He was the grandson of Amphictyon, son of Deucalion.Pseudo-Scymnus, ''Circuit of th ...

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of ...

.IAUC 8023: Satellites of Jupiter
2002 November 29 (correcting the name) It belongs to the

Pasiphae group The Pasiphae group is a group of retrograde irregular satellites of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Pasiphae and are thought to have a common origin. Their semi-major axes (distances from Jupiter) range between 22.8 and 24.1 million km (th ...

, irregular retrograde moons orbiting Jupiter at distances ranging between 22.8 and 24.7 Gm, and with

s ranging between 144.5° and 158.3°. However, while Pasiphae is gray (B−V=0.74, V−R=0.38, V−I=0.74) in color, Megaclite is light red (B−V=0.94, V−R=0.41, V−I=1.05) and come similar to Callirrhoe.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Megaclite (Moon) Pasiphae group Moons of Jupiter Irregular satellites Discoveries by Scott S. Sheppard Discoveries by David C. Jewitt Discoveries by Yanga R. Fernandez Discoveries by Eugene A. Magnier 20001125 Moons with a retrograde orbit