Everything about Thebe Moon totally explained
Thebe (thee'-bee,, Greek
Θήβη) or, is the fourth of
Jupiter's known
moons (by distance from the
planet). It was discovered by
Stephen P. Synnott in images from the
Voyager 1 space probe taken on
March 5,
1979 and was initially given the provisional designation . Later, it was found on images dating back to
February 27,
1979. In 1983 it was officially named after the mythological
nymph Thebe who was a lover of
Zeus (the Greek equivalent of Jupiter).
Orbit
Thebe is the outermost of the
inner Jovian moons. It orbits Jupiter at a distance of ~222,000 km (3.11 Jupiter radii). The orbit of Thebe has an
eccentricity of ~0.018 and an
inclination of ~1.08° relative to the equator of Jupiter.
The orbit of Thebe lies near the outer edge of the
Thebe Gossamer Ring, which is composed of the dust ejected from the satellite.
Physical characteristics
Thebe is irregularly shaped, with the closest
ellipsoidal approximation being 116x98x84 km. Its bulk density and mass are not known but assuming that it mean
density is like that of Amalthea (~0.86 g/cm³)
[ its mass can be estimated at ~4.3×1017 kg.]
Thebe rotates synchronously with its orbital period, keeping one face always looking toward the planet, similarly to all inner satellites of Jupiter. Its orientation is such that the long axis always points to Jupiter. At the surface points closest to and furthest from Jupiter, the surface is thought to near the edge of the Roche lobe where Thebe's gravity is almost balanced by the centrifugal force. As a result, the escape velocity there's very small, allowing dust to escape easily after meteorite impacts to form the Thebe Gossamer Ring.[ ]
The surface of Thebe is dark and appears to be reddish in color.[ There is a substantial asymmetry between leading and trailing hemispheres: the leading hemisphere is 1.3 times brighter than the trailing one. The asymmetry is probably caused by the higher velocity and frequency of impacts on the leading hemisphere, which excavate a bright material (ice) from the interior of the moon.][ The surface of Thebe is heavily cratered. There appear to be at least three or four impact craters that are very large: each is roughly comparable in size to Thebe's own diameter. The largest (~40 km) crater is situated on the anti-Jovian side of the moon and is called Zethus (the only surface feature on Thebe to have received a name). There are several bright spots at the rim of this crater.][
]Exploration
Thebe was discovered in Voyager 1 images by Steve Synnott, a member of the Voyager navigation team.[ However, before the Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter, knowledge about it was very limited. Galileo imaged almost all of the surface of Thebe and put constraints on its composition.][Further Information]
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