Aero-Terms!

Aero-Terms are designed to be a daily reminder of the terms, names, acronyms and explanations of the unique language that populates the aviation world. Aerospace, sport aviation, fixed wing, helo, you name it... it's all fair game.

Aero-Terms should serve as a quick but intriguing reminder of the terms you may use every day, or an introduction to an aspects of the Aero-World you may not yet be familiar with. ANN also encourages readers to go beyond the FMI link, and further research any intriguing terms.

Suggestions for future Aero-Terms are ALWAYS welcome, as are additions or discussion of the explanations given for each Aero-Term.

Amalthea

Amalthea (J-V) is the third-closest moon of Jupiter and the largest of Jupiter's smaller moons. It is a small, red, elongated, cratered moon (with two very large craters); it has the fastest speed of any known moon. It is potato-shaped, with dimensions: 145 x 91 x 83 miles (232 x146 x134 km). Its mass is 7.17x1021kg. Amalthea's mean distance from Jupiter is 181,300 miles. It takes Amalthea about 12 hours to orbit Jupiter; like most of Jupiter's moons, it is in synchronous orbit. It was discovered and named in 1892 by the American astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard.

FMI: www.solarviews.com/eng/amalthea.htm