Metis
Metis is the closest moon to Jupiter.
Facts About Metis:
- Metis was discovered in 1979 in photographs taken by the Voyager 1 space probe.
- It is tidally locked to its parent planet Jupiter, so the same side always faces Jupiter.
- It orbits within Jupiter's ring system and is likely to have contributed material to the rings.
Classification: Moon (orbiting Jupiter)
Names: Metis, Jupiter XVI
Discovered: 1979 by Stephen Synnott
Naming: Named after Metis, the first wife of Zeus.
Diameter: 50.2 km
Orbit Radius: 128,000 km
Orbital Period: 7 hours, 4.5 min
Orbital Speed: 31.5010 km/s
Eccentricity: 0.00020000
Albedo: 0.0610
Surface Area: 5800 km2
Adjective: Metidian, Metidean