Pasiphae is a retrograde irregular satellite of Jupiter. Pasiphae orbits Jupiter on a high eccentricity and high inclination retrograde orbit. It gives its name to the Pasiphae group, irregular retrograde moons orbiting Jupiter at distances ranging between 22.8 and 24.1 million km, and with inclinations ranging between 144.5° and 158.3°. The orbital elements are as of January 2000. They are continuously changing due to solar and planetary perturbations. With diameter estimated at 58 km Pasiphae is the largest retrograde and third largest irregular satellite after Himalia and Elara. Spectroscopical measurements in infrared indicate that Pasiphae is a spectrally featureless object, consistent with the suspected asteroidal origin of the object. Pasiphae is believed to be a fragment from a captured asteroid along with other Pasiphae group satellites.
Pasiphae (moon) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia