Euporie (moon)

Euporie is a small, irregular moon of Jupiter. It was discovered in 2001 by a team of astronomers led by Scott S. Sheppard at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii, and given the provisional designation S/2001 J 10. In 2003, it was officially named after Euporie, one of the Horae (Hours), daughters of Zeus and Themis in Greek mythology.

Euporie is approximately 2 kilometers in diameter and orbits Jupiter at an average distance of about 19.088 million kilometers in 550.73 days. It has a high orbital inclination of approximately 145.8° to the ecliptic (145.9° to Jupiter's equator) and an eccentricity of 0.096.

Euporie belongs to the Ananke group, a family of Jovian irregular satellites sharing similar orbital characteristics and believed to have a common origin, likely a captured asteroid that subsequently fragmented due to collisions. These moons all have retrograde orbits.

The surface properties of Euporie are largely unknown, but are likely dark, reflecting very little sunlight, consistent with other members of the Ananke group. Its appearance is presumed to be similar to other small, irregular Jovian moons. Further studies are needed to fully understand Euporie's composition and physical characteristics.