S/2003 J 4 is a natural satelliteofJupiter. It was discovered by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii led by Scott S. Sheppard in 2003.[4][1]
S/2003 J 4 imaged by the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope during follow-up observations in February 2003
| |
| Discovery [1] | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Scott S. Sheppard et al. |
| Discovery site | Mauna Kea Obs. |
| Discovery date | 5 February 2003 |
| Orbital characteristics [2] | |
| Epoch 17 December 2020 (JD 2459200.5) | |
| Observation arc | 16.42 yr (5,997 d) |
| Earliest precovery date | 10 December 2001 |
| 0.1473856 AU (22,048,570 km) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.4967418 |
| –1.83 yr (–668.85 d) | |
| 146.33793° | |
| 0° 32m 17.664s / day | |
| Inclination | 149.40138° (toecliptic) |
| 249.91700° | |
| 240.54004° | |
| Satellite of | Jupiter |
| Group | Pasiphae group |
| Physical characteristics | |
| ≈2 km[3] | |
| Albedo | 0.04 (assumed)[3] |
| 23.0[3] | |
| 16.7[2] | |
S/2003 J 4 is about 2 km in diameter, and orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 23,000,000 km in 669 days, at an inclination of 149° to the ecliptic, in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.497.
It belongs to the Pasiphae group, irregular retrograde moons orbiting Jupiter at distances ranging between 22.8 and 24.1 Gm, and with inclinations ranging between 144.5° and 158.3°.
This moon was considered lost[5][6][7][8] until late 2020, when it was recovered by amateur astronomers Kai Ly and Sam Deen in archival images from 2001-2018.[9] The recovery of the moon was announced by the Minor Planet Center on 13 January 2021.[2]
We likely have all of the lost moons in our new observations from 2017, but to link them back to the remaining lost 2003 objects requires more observations a year later to confirm the linkages, which will not happen until early 2018. ... There are likely a few more new moons as well in our 2017 observations, but we need to reobserve them in 2018 to determine which of the discoveries are new and which are lost 2003 moons.