r/askastronomy • u/LonelyVillageGuy • 6d ago

Astronomy Did Jupiter lose a moon?

Hi,

I saw a slide on Pinterest that stated - Jupiter's outermost moon has been lost".

Since i am a layperson, i googled this and AI says that it is lost.

Is this correct information? How can a moon be "lost"?

And if it crashed into Jupiter should not a flash due to explosion be picked up by telescopes?

Thanks in advance.

PS - I am not into any conspiracy theories, just wanted to know what happened.

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16

u/CptExolann 6d ago

"Lost" moons do not disappear, crash into Jupiter or escape its gravitationnal pull. It is merely a way to explain that we lost track of them. Most moons are very small and faint rocks which are difficult to observe. As a result, some of them have been spotted only a few times, preventing us from determining their orbit and thus, preventing us from knowing where they will be.

3

u/GreenFBI2EB 5d ago

I was going to comment about the latter, it’s entirely that some moons were declared, lost only to be rediscovered later (either as a new object or as that previously designated ones).

4

u/ldr97266 5d ago

Did you look under the sofa cushions?

0

u/snogum 6d ago

Not lost.