Harpalyke (moon)

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/harpalyke-moon

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. Who discovered Harpalyke (moon)?Discovered in 2001 by Scott S. Sheppard and colleagues
2. What is the type?Irregular moon of Jupiter
3. What is the orbital period?Approximately 1.4 Earth years (497 Earth days)
4. What is Harpalyke?Harpalyke is a tiny, rocky moon of Jupiter that looks like a lumpy potato. It is only about 3.4 kilometers wide and has an irregular shape.
5. How big is Harpalyke compared to Jupiter’s other moons?Harpalyke is much smaller than the big Galilean moons. It is only a few kilometers across, while moons like Ganymede are hundreds of kilometers wide.

Irregular Satellite: A moon with a distant, often inclined and eccentric orbit, typically captured from elsewhere.
Orbital Eccentricity: A measure of how much an orbit deviates from a perfect circle; higher values mean a more elongated ellipse.
Gravitational Capture: The process by which a celestial body moving through a gravitational field is drawn into orbit.