Pasithee , also known as , is a retrograde

irregular satellite In astronomy, an irregular moon, irregular satellite, or irregular natural satellite is a natural satellite following an orbit that is irregular in some of the following ways: Distant; inclined; highly elliptical; retrograde. They have often be ...

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

. It was discovered by a team of astronomers from the

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

led by Scott S. Sheppard in 2001, and given the temporary designation .MPEC 2002-J54: ''Eleven New Satellites of Jupiter''
May 15, 2002 (discovery and ephemeris) Pasithee is about 2 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 23,307,000 km in 711.12 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 reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Eart ...

of 166° to the

ecliptic The ecliptic or ecliptic plane is the orbital plane of Earth's orbit, Earth around the Sun. It was a central concept in a number of ancient sciences, providing the framework for key measurements in astronomy, astrology and calendar-making. Fr ...

(164° 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-Centre (geometry), center, in geometry * Eccentricity (g ...

of 0.3289. It was named in August 2003 after Pasithee, one of the

Charites In Greek mythology, the Charites (; ), singular Charis (), also called the Graces, are goddesses who personify beauty and grace. According to Hesiod, the Charites were Aglaia (Grace), Aglaea, Euphrosyne, and Thalia (Grace), Thalia, who were the ...

, goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility, daughters of

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

(Jupiter) by

Eurynome Eurynomê (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυνόμη, from , ''eurys'', "broad" and , ''nomos'', "pasture" or "law") is a name that refers to the following characters in Greek mythology: * Eurynome, pre-Olympian queen and wife of Ophion * Eurynome (Oce ...

.IAUC 8177: ''Satellites of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus''
2003 August (naming the moon) Pasithee, better known as Aglaea, is the spouse of

Hypnos In Greek mythology, Hypnos (; Ancient Greek: , 'sleep'), also spelled Hypnus, is the personification of sleep. The Roman equivalent is Somnus. His name is the origin of the word hypnosis. Pausanias (geographer), Pausanias wrote that Hypnos was t ...

(Sleep) and presides over hallucinations and hallucinogens. It belongs to the

Carme group The Carme group is a group of retrograde irregular satellites of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Carme and are thought to have a common origin. Their semi-major axes (distances from Jupiter) range between 22.7 and 23.6 Gm, their orbital ...

, made up of irregular retrograde moons orbiting Jupiter at a distance ranging between 23 and 24 Gm and at an inclination of about 165°.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pasithee (Moon) Carme group Moons of Jupiter Discoveries by Scott S. Sheppard Irregular satellites 20011211 Discoveries by David C. Jewitt Discoveries by Jan Kleyna Moons with a retrograde orbit