page_title: Pasiphaë group
section_title: Origin
hierarchical_section_title: Pasiphaë group / Origin
context_page_description: The Pasiphaë group is a group of retrograde non-spherical moons of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Pasiphaë and are thought of have a common origin.
  Their semi-major axes range between 22,800,000 and 24,100,000 km, their inclinations between 144.5° and 158.3°, and their eccentricities between 0.25 and 0.43.
  Core members of the group include:
  Pasiphae
  Sinope, two-thirds the size of Pasiphaë
  Callirrhoe
  Megaclite
  Autonoe
  Eurydome
  Sponde
  The International Astronomical Union reserves names ending in -e for all retrograde moons, including this group's members.
context_section_description: The Pasiphaë group is believed to have been formed when Jupiter captured an asteroid which broke up after a collision. The original asteroid was not disturbed heavily: the original body is calculated to have been 60 km in diameter, about the same size as Pasiphaë; Pasiphaë has 99% of the original body's mass. However, if Sinope belongs to the group, the amount is much smaller, 87%.
  The differences of colour between the objects (grey for Pasiphaë, light red for Callirrhoe and Megaclite) also suggest that the group could have a more complex origin than a single collision.
caption: This diagram compares the wide dispersion of the Pasiphaë group (red) with the more compact Ananke (blue) and Carme (green) groups.