The Discovery of Carpo
The discovery of Carppo was made by the team at the University of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea Observatory headed by Scott S. Shepherd on February 26, 2003. Over the first few years of the 21st-century, Shepherd and his team discovered a number of moons orbiting Jupiter and aided in their classification. Scott Shepherd used a 12-foot telescope to discover Carpo compared to the small eight times magnification telescope used by the Italian astronomer Galileo who discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter.
The Size of Carpo
The moon known as Carpo is a moon that is a classical spherical shape as it is thought to have formed naturally with Jupiter. The moon has a circumference around the equator or central portion of just over six miles.
Carpo’s Orbit
The orbit of Carpo is a strange one and can be affected by the larger moons it moves around as it passes through the orbit of Jupiter. The Jovian moon moves in an orbit that includes an average distance above Jupiter of around 10.5 million miles. The orbit of the moon takes around 456 Earth days to move around Jupiter through each cycle.
Most moons have a retrograde orbit
Carpo is set apart from the many other moons orbiting Jupiter because of the close proximity of the moon to the planet and the larger Jovian moons discovered by Galileo. The prograde orbit of Carpo means it travels in the same direction as Jupiter spins in orbit. The majority of moons and satellites orbiting Jupiter spin in a retrograde orbit in the opposite direction to the orbit of the planet. This is because the majority of moons are thought to have once been asteroids dragged into Jupiter’s orbit because of the sheer size of the gravitational pull of the planet.
The Kozai Effect
The Kozai Effect is a theory that is thought to affect Carpo because the moon will shift in its orbit a little throughout the time it takes to complete a single orbit. Carpo is thought to be affected by the larger Jovian moons it orbits close to and could eventually collide with one of these larger celestial objects. If the theory is correct, the ultimate collision between Carpo and a larger moon take place, Carpo could eventually be spun out of its orbit into the solar system.
Carpo’s name
The naming of the majority of moons discovered comes a few years after they are first identified. Upon being identified in 2003, Carpo was given the classification, S/2003 J20. The objects in orbit around Jupiter have usually been given names associated with Greek mythology and Carpo is no different. The moon was named Carpo after the Greek Goddess representing the fruits of the Earth who was worshipped in ancient Athens.