S/2021 J 6
S/2021 J 6 is a small outer natural satellite of Jupiter discovered by Scott S. Sheppard, David J. Tholen, and Chad Trujillo on 5 September 2021, using the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii. It was announced by the Minor Planet Center on 20 January 2023, after observations were collected over a long enough time span to confirm the satellite's orbit. The satellite has been found in precovery observations as early as 2 October 2010.
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Scott S. Sheppard David J. Tholen Chad Trujillo |
| Discovery site | Mauna Kea Obs. |
| Discovery date | 5 September 2021 |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 25 February 2023 (JD 2460000.5) | |
| Observation arc | 12.04 yr (4,396 d) |
| Earliest precovery date | 2 October 2010 |
| 0.1566013 AU (23,427,220 km) | |
| Eccentricity | 0.3625334 |
| –2.01 yr (–732.55 days) | |
| 77.36574° | |
| 0° 29m 29.162s / day | |
| Inclination | 166.49991° (to ecliptic) |
| 172.60903° | |
| 254.84930° | |
| Satellite of | Jupiter |
| Group | Carme group |
| Physical characteristics | |
Mean diameter | ≈1 km |
| 23.9 | |
| 17.3 | |
S/2021 J 6 is part of the Carme group, a tight cluster of retrograde irregular moons of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Carme at semi-major axes between 22–24 million km (14–15 million mi), orbital eccentricities between 0.2–0.3, and inclinations between 163–166°. It has a diameter of about 1 km (0.62 mi) for an absolute magnitude of 17.3, making it one of Jupiter's smallest known moons.