It was named in October 2002 after Callirrhoe, daughter of the river god Achelous, one of Zeus's (Jupiter's) many conquests.[12]
Characteristics
Callirrhoe has an apparent magnitude of 20.8,[7] making it even fainter than dwarf planetEris at magnitude 18.7.[13] Jupiter is about 2.1 billion times brighter than Callirrhoe.[b]
Callirrhoe is about 9.6 kilometers in diameter,[6] and orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 24.1 million kilometers in 747.09 days, at an inclination of 141° to the ecliptic (140° to Jupiter's equator) with an eccentricity of 0.28. This object was probably captured long ago from a heliocentric orbit and the Sun's gravitational influence makes this orbit highly erratic.[8]
It belongs to the Pasiphae group, irregular retrograde moons orbiting Jupiter at distances ranging between 22.8 and 24.1 million kilometers, and with inclinations ranging between 144.5° and 158.3°. However, while Pasiphae belongs to the grey color class (V=17.22 B−V=0.74, V−R=0.38), Callirrhoe falls under the light red color class (V=21.39 B−V=0.72, V−R=0.50), similarly to Megaclite and Sinope.[14]
Exploration
As a navigation exercise, the New Horizons spacecraft imaged Callirrhoe on January 10, 2007.[15]
Notes
^The discovery is credited to the team of astronomers consisting of J. V. Scotti, T. B. Spahr, R. S. McMillan, J. A. Larson, J. Montani, A. E. Gleason, and T. Gehrels.[2]
^ abSheppard, Scott. "Scott S. Sheppard - Jupiter Moons". Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. Carnegie Institution for Science. Retrieved 26 November 2020.