29 January: Pasiphae

On this date in 1880, Philibert Jacques Melotte, the astronomer who discovered Jupiter's 8th moon, Pasiphae, was born. Here are 10 facts about his discovery:

1. Pasiphae is the largest of a group of Jupiter’s moons which have retrograde (opposite direction to the planet) and eccentric (elliptical) orbits.
2. It was discovered in 1908 at the Royal Greenwich Observatory when it was spotted on a photographic plate.
3. When it was first discovered, astronomers weren’t sure whether it was a moon or an Asteroid, so they called it 1908 CJ.
4. Once they figured out it was a moon, they called it Jupiter VIII or sometimes "Poseidon".
5. It wasn’t until 1975 that Pasiphae was finally named. A name ending in "e" was chosen for this moon in accordance with the International Astronomical Union's policy that outer moons with retrograde orbits should all have names ending in “e”.
6. The moon is named after the wife of Minos, king of Crete. The best known legend about her is that Poseidon made her fall in love with a bull, and she disguised herself as a cow in order to have sex with the bull. Hence she became the mother of the Minotaur, a human-flesh-eating monster with the body of a man and the head of a bull.
7. Pasiphae is 14.6 million miles (23.6 million kilometres) from Jupiter.
8. The satellite takes about 744 Earth days to complete one orbit.
9. It’s thought that Pasiphae and the other moons in the group were originally an asteroid which got captured by Jupiter’s gravity and then collided with something. Because Pasiphae is the largest moon of her group, astronomers generally believe this natural satellite to be the largest piece of the original asteroid.
10. Pasiphae is affected by something called secular resonance, which means Jupiter “tugs” at it from time to time which means its orbit is gradually changing. The only other moon of Jupiter with this characteristic is Sinope.

Character birthday

Reptilicus: Reptilicus is amphibious and can live on land or water. He is happiest in water. While he is on land and under Obsidian's control, he is a vicious opponent to any land based creature. He will not, however, fight any fish, reptile or amphibian, or even human water-breathing variants, while they are in water. He lives in a large greenhouse on Obsidian's country estate, which has been converted into a tropical grotto. He can be seen there on occasion, lounging beside the pool and reading a newspaper. His origin is unknown.