Dia

 

1. Discovery: Dia was discovered on January 30, 2000, by a team of astronomers led by Brett J. Gladman at the University of British Columbia in Canada. Its discovery was part of ongoing efforts to identify and study the smaller irregular moons of Jupiter.

2. Physical Characteristics: Dia is considered one of the smaller irregular moons of Jupiter. Like many of Jupiter's irregular moons, it has an irregular shape and is not spherical. Its size is estimated to be relatively small, with a diameter of approximately 4 kilometers (about 2.5 miles).

3. Orbit: Dia follows a prograde orbit around Jupiter, which means it orbits in the same direction as the planet's rotation. Its orbit is highly eccentric (elongated) and inclined, typical of irregular moons. Dia's orbital period, the time it takes to complete one orbit around Jupiter, is about 715 Earth days.

4. Group Membership: Dia is not a part of any specific moon group like the Himalia Group. It orbits Jupiter as an individual moon.

5. Name Origin: Dia is named after Dia, a mythological figure from Greek mythology. Dia was a lover of the Greek god Zeus and was associated with the ancient city of Letrini in Elis, Greece.

6. Exploration: As of my last knowledge update in September 2021, Dia had not been visited by any spacecraft, and detailed information about its surface and composition was limited to observations from Earth-based telescopes.

Dia is one of the many small and distant moons that make up Jupiter's extensive moon system. It contributes to our understanding of the dynamics and gravitational interactions within this system.

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