Thebe (pronounced "THEE bee") is the fourth of Jupiter's known satellites. It was discovered by Voyager 1 and was named after a nymph who was the daughter of the river god Asopus. There appear to be at least three or four very large impact craters on the satellite (very large in the sense that each of these craters is roughly comparable in size to the radius of Thebe). Little else is known about it.
Discovery
Discovered by S. Synnott[?]
Discovered in 1979
Orbital characteristics
Mean radius 221,900 km
Eccentricity 0.0018
Revolution period 16h 11.3m
Inclination 1.070°
Is a satellite of Jupiter
Physical characteristics
Equatorial diameter 110(×90) km
Surface area km2
Mass 7.557×1017 kg
Mean density 1.45 g/cm3
Surface gravity 0.0201m/s2
Rotation period 16h 11.3m
Axial tilt 0.001°
Albedo 0.047
Surface temp.
min mean max K K K
Atmospheric pressure 0 kPa
This image of Thebe was taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft on January 4, 2000, at a range of 193,000 kilometers (about 120,000 miles).