 During its flyby of Amalthea , the Galileo orbiter 's star scanner detected nine flashes that appear to be small moonlets near the orbit of Amalthea . Because they were sighted only from one location , their true distances could not be measured . These moonlets may be anywhere in size from gravel to stadium @-@ sized . Their origins are unknown , but they may be gravitationally captured into current orbit or they may be ejecta from meteor impacts on Amalthea . On the next and final orbit ( just an hour before destruction ) , Galileo detected one more such moonlet . However , this time Amalthea was on the other side of the planet , so it is probable that the particles form a ring around the planet near Amalthea 's orbit . 
