Pasiphae group
The Pasiphae group is a group of retrograde irregular satellites of Jupiter that follow similar orbits to Pasiphae and are thought to have a common origin.
Their semi-major axes range between 22.8 and 24.1 million km, their inclinations between 144.5° and 158.3°, and their eccentricities between 0.25 and 0.43.
Core members of the group include :
| Name | Diameter | Period | Notes |
| Pasiphae | 57.8 | −722.34 | largest member and group prototype |
| Sinope | 35 | −777.29 | red colour |
| Callirrhoe | 9.6 | −722.53 | reddish colour |
| Megaclite | 5 | −717.14 | reddish colour |
| Autonoe | 4 | −711.10 | |
| Eurydome | 3 | −719.53 | |
| Sponde | 2 | −734.89 |
The International Astronomical Union reserves names ending in -e for all retrograde moons.
Origin
The Pasiphae group is believed to have been formed when Jupiter captured an asteroid which subsequently 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 Pasiphae; Pasiphae retains 99% of the original body's mass. However, if Sinope belongs to the group, the ratio is much smaller, 87%.Unlike the Carme and Ananke groups, the theory of a single impact origin for the Pasiphae group is not accepted by all studies. This is because the Pasiphae group, while similar in semi-major axis, is more widely dispersed in inclination. Alternatively, Sinope might be not a part of the remnants of the same collision and captured independently instead. The differences of colour between the objects also suggest that the group could have a more complex origin than a single collision.