Pasiphae (moon) - Physical Characteristics

Physical Characteristics

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.

In the visual spectrum the satellite appears grey (colour indices B-V=0.74, R-V=0.38) similar to C-type asteroids.

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