Leda also known as , is a prograde

Prograde

Prograde can refer to:*Prograde or direct motion, in astronomy, a type of motion of astronomical bodies* Prograde metamorphism, in geology, describes mineral changes in rocks under increasing pressure and/or temperature conditions...

 irregular

Irregular satellite

In astronomy, an irregular moon is a natural satellite following a distant, inclined, and often eccentric and retrograde orbit. They are believed to have been captured by their parent planet, unlike regular satellites, which form in situ....

 satellite

Natural satellite

A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....

 of Jupiter

Jupiter

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...

. It was discovered by Charles T. Kowal

Charles T. Kowal

Charles Thomas Kowal was an American astronomer.He discovered two moons of Jupiter: Leda in 1974 and Themisto in 1975, although the latter was lost and not rediscovered until 2000....

 at the Mount Palomar Observatory on September 14, 1974, after three nights' worth of photographic plates had been taken (September 11 through 13; Leda appears on all of them). It was named after Leda

Leda (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Leda was daughter of the Aetolian king Thestius, and wife of the king Tyndareus , of Sparta. Her myth gave rise to the popular motif in Renaissance and later art of Leda and the Swan...

, who was a lover of Zeus

Zeus

In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

, the Greek equivalent of Jupiter (who came to her in the form of a swan

Swan

Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...

). Kowal suggested the name and the IAU endorsed it in 1975.

Leda belongs to the Himalia group

Himalia group

The Himalia group is a group of prograde irregular satellites of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Himalia and are thought to have a common origin.The known members of the group are :* Leda...

, five moons orbiting between 11 and 13 Gm from Jupiter at an inclination of about 27.5°. The orbital elements given here are as of January 2000, but they are continuously changing due to solar

Sun

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...

 and planetary perturbations.

In fiction

• The 1956 British film Fire Maidens from Outer Space
  Fire Maidens from Outer Space
  Fire Maidens from Outer Space , released in the USA as Fire Maidens of Outer Space, is a 78-minute black-and-white science fiction feature film...
  
  was set on Jupiter's 13th moon, although this film was made before the discovery of Leda in 1974.

External links

• Leda Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
• David Jewitt pages
• Jupiter's Known Satellites (by Scott S. Sheppard
  Scott S. Sheppard
  Scott S. Sheppard is an astronomer in the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution for Science. Starting as a graduate student at the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, he was credited with the discovery of many small moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and...
  
  )