Thelxinoe (moon)

Thelxinoe (pron-en|θɛlkˈsɪnoʊi "thelk-SIN-oh-ee," or as in Greek "Θελξινόη)," also known as nowrap|Jupiter XLII, is a natural satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii led by Scott S. Sheppard in 2004 from pictures taken in 2003, and originally received the temporary designation nowrap|S/2003 J 22. [ [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iauc/08200/08276.html IAUC 8276: "S/2003 J 22"] 2004 January 25 (discovery)] [ [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/mpec/K04/K04B41.html MPEC 2004-B41: "S/2003 J 22"] 2004 January 24 (discovery and ephemeris)]

Thelxinoe is about 2 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 20,454 m in 597.607 days, at an inclination of 151° to the ecliptic (153° to Jupiter's equator), in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.2685.

It was named in March 2005 after Thelxinoe, one of the four original Muses according to some Greek writers, and a daughter of Zeus (Jupiter) by Mnemosyne. [ [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iauc/08500/08502.html IAUC 8502: "Satellites of Jupiter"] 2005 March 30 (naming the moon)]

Thelxinoe belongs to the Ananke group, retrograde irregular moons which orbit Jupiter between 19.3 and 22.7 Gm, at inclinations of roughly 150°.

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