S/2003 J 12

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/s-2003-j-12

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 S/2003 J 12?2003
2. What is the type?Irregular moon of Jupiter
3. What is the diameter?Approximately 1.2 miles (2 kilometers)
4. How was S/2003 J 12 discovered?Scientists found it in 2003 using the powerful Subaru Telescope. Astronomers Scott Sheppard, David Jewitt, and Jan Kleyna looked carefully at the data to spot this very faint moon.
5. How far is S/2003 J 12 from Jupiter?It travels about 11.5 million miles (18.5 million kilometers) away from Jupiter, far beyond the big, bright Galilean moons.

Irregular Satellite: Moons with orbits that are distant, often inclined, and eccentric, suggesting capture rather than formation with the planet.
Protoplanetary Disk: A rotating disk of dense gas and dust surrounding a newly formed star, from which planets form.
Orbital Eccentricity: A measure of how much an orbit deviates from a perfect circle.