Sinope (moon)
Overview
 
Sinope is a retrograde
Retrograde motion
Retrograde motion is motion in the direction opposite to the movement of something else, and is the contrary of direct or prograde motion. This motion can be the orbit of one body about another body or about some other point, or the rotation of a single body about its axis, or other phenomena such...

 irregular satellite
Irregular satellite
In astronomy, an irregular moon is a natural satellite following a distant, inclined, and often eccentric and retrograde orbit. They are believed to have been captured by their parent planet, unlike regular satellites, which form in situ....

 of Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...

 discovered by Seth Barnes Nicholson
Seth Barnes Nicholson
Seth Barnes Nicholson was an American astronomer.Nicholson was born in Springfield, Illinois and was raised in rural Illinois...

 at Lick Observatory
Lick Observatory
The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory, owned and operated by the University of California. It is situated on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, USA...

 in 1914, and is named after Sinope
Sinope (mythology)
In Greek Mythology, Sinope was one of the daughters of Asopus and thought to be an eponym of the city Sinope on the Black Sea.According to Corinna and Diodorus Siculus, Sinope was seized by the god Apollo and carried over to the place where later stood the city honouring her name...

 of Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

.

Sinope did not receive its present name until 1975; before then, it was simply known as . It was sometimes called "Hades
Hades
Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...

" between 1955 and 1975.

Sinope was the outermost known moon
Natural satellite
A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....

 of Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...

 until the discovery of Megaclite
Megaclite (moon)
Megaclite , also known as ', is a natural satellite of Jupiter. It was discovered by a team of astronomers from the University of Hawaii led by Scott S...

 in 2000. The most distant moon of Jupiter now known is .
Sinope orbits Jupiter on a high eccentricity and high inclination retrograde orbit.
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