[006] Himalia

Himalia (/hɪˈmeɪliə, hɪˈmɑːliə/), also known as Jupiter VI, is the largest irregular satellite of Jupiter. With a diameter of around 140 km (90 mi), it is the sixth largest Jovian satellite, after the four Galilean moons and Amalthea. It was discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at the Lick Observatory on 3 December 1904 and is named after the nymph Himalia, who bore three sons of Zeus (the Greek equivalent of Jupiter).^[1] It is the largest member of the Himalia group, a group of moons that orbit in the prograde direction around Jupiter, likely a collisional family originating from a captured asteroid.

Discovery and naming

Discovery

Himalia was discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine at the Lick Observatory on 3 December 1904 in photographs taken with the 36-inch Crossley reflecting telescope which he had recently rebuilt.^[1]

Naming

The moon is named after the nymph Himalia, who bore three sons of Zeus (the Greek equivalent of Jupiter). The moon did not receive its present name until 1975;^[14] before then, it was simply known as Jupiter VI or Jupiter Satellite VI, although calls for a full name appeared shortly after its and Elara's discovery. A.C.D. Crommelin wrote in 1905:

Unfortunately the numeration of Jupiter's satellites is now in precisely the same confusion as that of Saturn's system was before the numbers were abandoned and names substituted. A similar course would seem to be advisable here; the designation V for the inner satellite [Amalthea] was tolerated for a time, as it was considered to be in a class by itself; but it has now got companions, so that this subterfuge disappears. The substitution of names for numerals is certainly more poetic.^[15]

The moon was sometimes called Hestia, after the Greek goddess, from 1955 to 1975.^[16]