Himalia: A Small Moon of Jupiter | PIA02881 | ||
![]() |
NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured images of Himalia, the brightest of Jupiter's outer moons, on 19 December 2000, from a distance of 4.4 million km. | ||
Go to Full Text | |||
![]() |
|||
![]() |
|||
Image Credit: CICLOPS / University of Arizona | |||
|
|||
This near-infrared image, with a resolution of about 27 kilometers (17 miles) per pixel, indicates that the side of Himalia facing the spacecraft is roughly 160 kilometers in the up-down direction. Himalia probably has a non-spherical shape. Scientists believe it is a body captured into orbit around Jupiter, most likely an irregularly shaped asteroid. | ![]() |
In
the main frame, an arrow indicates Himalia. North is up. The inset shows
the little moon magnified by a factor of 10, plus a graphic indicating Himalia's
size and the direction of lighting (with sunlight coming from the left).
Cassini's pictures of Himalia were taken during a brief period when Cassini's
attitude was stabilized by thrusters instead of by a steadier reaction-wheel
system. No spacecraft or telescope had previously shown any of Jupiter's
outer moons as more than a star-like single dot. Cassini is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. |
|
Return to top of page |