Adrastea ("a DRAS tee uh") is the second of
Jupiter's known
moons. It was discovered by the [Voyager 1]
? probe and is named after the daughter of Jupiter and
Ananke (or possibly for the
mythical Greek king of Argos
? named Adrastus
?, who led several primitive expeditions against Thebes
? and whose daughter married Polynices
? of Thebes). It is inside Jupiter's
planetary ring and may be the source of some of its material. Its orbit lies inside Jupiter's synchronous orbit radius, and as a result tidal forces are slowly causing its orbit to decay. It is also within Jupiter's [Roche limit]
?, but is small enough to avoid tidal disruption.
- Orbital radius: 129,000 km
- Diameter: 20 km (23 x 20 x 15)
- Mass: 1.91*1016kg
- Orbital period: 7.11 hours