thumb|upright=1.5|This diagram compares the [[orbital elements and relative sizes of the known members of the Pasiphae group . The horizontal axis illustrates their average distance from Jupiter, the vertical axis their orbital inclination, and the circles their relative sizes.]]

thumb|upright=1.5|107 irregular moons of Jupiter plotted by semi-major axis and inclination . The Pasiphae group is shown as a diffuse cluster of gray-colored points on the left.

The Pasiphae group (or family or cluster) is a group of retrograde irregular satellites of Jupiter, named after its largest member, Pasiphae. The group is usually thought to have formed from a captured asteroid that later split into many fragments in a collision, making them a collisional family. Though the moons follow somewhat similar orbits, their orbital dispersion is still very large, and additionally the moons with measured colours show significant colour diversity, making the identification of the group and a common origin open to discussion. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) reserves names ending in -e for all retrograde moons of Jupiter, which includes all those in the Pasiphae group.

Characteristics and 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%.

Typically the Pasiphae group is simply visually identified in orbital element space, distinct from the Carme group by their inclinations and from the Ananke group by their semi-major axes. At other times only a handful of moons are selected to be grouped with Pasiphae (namely Megaclite, S/2003 J 4, and Cyllene),

Due to its large size and relatively distinct inclination, Sinope is sometimes considered to be of its own category and different from the other Pasiphae moons, along with the small moon Aoede.

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!Name||Diameter<br>(km)||Semi-Major Axis<br>(km)

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