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Sinope (moon)

Moon of Jupiter From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sinope (moon)
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Sinope /səˈnp/ is a retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter discovered by Seth Barnes Nicholson at Lick Observatory in 1914,[1] and is named after Sinope of Greek mythology.

Quick Facts Discovery, Discovered by ...

Sinope did not receive its present name until 1975;[10][11] before then, it was simply known as Jupiter IX. It was sometimes called "Hades"[12] between 1955 and 1975.

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Orbit

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Pasiphae group.

Sinope orbits Jupiter on a high-eccentricity and high-inclination retrograde orbit. Its orbit is continuously changing due to solar and planetary perturbations.[13] Sinope is believed to belong to the Pasiphae group of retrograde irregular moons.[14] However, given its mean inclination and different colour, Sinope could be also an independent object, captured independently, unrelated to the collision and break-up at the origin of the group.[15] The diagram illustrates Sinope's orbital elements in relation to other satellites of the group.

Sinope is also known to be in a secular resonance with Jupiter, similar to Pasiphae. However, Sinope can drop out of this resonance and has periods of both resonant and non-resonant behaviour in time scales of 107 years.[16]

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Physical characteristics

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Sinope observed by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft in 2014

From measurements of its thermal emission, Sinope has an estimated diameter of 35 km (22 mi).[7] Sinope is pale red in color (colour indices V=18.63 B−V=0.84, R−V=0.46),[15] and it falls under the light red color-class, comparable to P-type asteroids and D-type asteroids. This sets it apart from Pasiphae, which is closer to C-type asteroids.

Sinope's infrared spectrum is similar to those of D-type asteroids but different from that of Pasiphae.[17] These dissimilarities of the physical parameters suggest a different origin from the core members of the group.

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See also

References

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