Amalthea in 3D: live position and orbit

Jupiter's reddest moon, tidally locked with its long axis always pointing at the planet, likely stained by sulfur from Io.

Amalthea is shown at its real position, computed from NASA/JPL ephemeris data. The view opens on Amalthea; you can travel in time, switch between the educational overview and the true-scale voyage, and compare it with every other body of the solar system.

Orbits

Jupiter

Radius

83.5 km¹

Mass

2.47 × 10¹⁸ kg (± 5 %)¹ (derived value)

Surface gravity

0.0236 m/s²¹ (derived value)

Mean distance from Jupiter

181 400 km²

Orbital period

0.50 days²

Sidereal rotation

11.96 hours² (derived value)

Axial tilt

0.1°³ (derived value)

Missions

• Voyager
• Galileo

Sources

1. NASA JPL Solar System Dynamics, Planetary Satellite Physical Parameters. read 2026-09-17. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sats/phys_par/
2. NASA NSSDCA, Planetary and Satellite Fact Sheets. read 2026-09-17. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetfact.html
3. NASA NAIF, Generic PCK kernel (IAU rotational elements). read 2026-09-28. https://naif.jpl.nasa.gov/pub/naif/generic_kernels/pck/pck00011.tpc