Moons of Jupiter Codexery

Kallichore (moon)

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Kallichore is a small, irregular moon of Jupiter that orbits the planet in the retrograde direction at an average distance of 23.0 million km.[1][2] It is a member of the Carme group, a collection of moons believed to be fragments of a captured asteroid or trans-Neptunian object.[2] Based on data from a 2026 Nature Astronomy paper by Rizos and colleagues, Kallichore has a non-spherical shape and a diameter of roughly 4 km.[2] The moon's surface is dark, reflecting only about 3.7% of incoming sunlight, as indicated by its geometric albedo.[3]

Key facts and history

The International Astronomical Union officially named it "Kallichore" with the Roman numeral designation Jupiter XLIV on 30 March 2005.[4] The moon's orbit is strongly perturbed by the Sun, causing its distance from Jupiter to vary between roughly 17.7 and 30.4 million km during one orbit.[5][6] The Hubble Space Telescope observed brightness changes suggesting the moon has a moderately elongated shape with a minimum semi-axis ratio of at least 1.53.[7][5] Scott S. Sheppard identified Kallichore on 6 February 2003 while using the 3.6 m Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope located at the Mauna Kea Observatory.[8]

The Minor Planet Center and Central Bureau of Astronomical Telegrams made the discovery public on 7 March 2003, at which time the moon received the temporary designation S/2003 J 11.[8][4] In Greek mythology, the figure Callichore, from whom the moon takes its name, is counted among the Muses and is a child of Zeus.[4] A stellar occultation observed in 2025 indicates that Kallichore's diameter falls within a range of 3.5 km to 6.1 km.[9] Because it is thought to have been shaped by collisions, Kallichore is believed to possess a rubble pile interior, a structure similar to that of kilometer-sized asteroids like Ryugu and Bennu.[7]

What the cited sources add

The IAU Circular from March 2005 officially designated the moon as Jupiter XLIV with the name Kallichore.[10] Denk's 2025 account notes that Kallichore's orbit is very much perturbed by the Sun and that the moon is a member of the Carme group with mean distances of roughly 22.7 to 23.6 million km.[5] In early October 2031, the Juice spacecraft will come closer than 0.6 million km to Kallichore, the closest approach to any irregular Jovian moon.[5] Denk also reports that combined HST, stellar occultation, and GTC observations reduced Kallichore's positional uncertainty for the potential Juice flyby by about 80%.[5]

The Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature entry for Jupiter XLIV (Kallichore) states that S.S. Sheppard discovered it on 6 February 2003, and that it is one of the Muses, a daughter of Zeus.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Kallichore (moon)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers", Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Kallichore (moon)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rizos, "Kilometre-scale Jovian moon characterized for a potential JUICE flyby", Nature Astronomy, July 2026 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Kallichore (moon)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rizos, "Kilometre-scale Jovian moon characterized for a potential JUICE flyby", Nature Astronomy, July 2026; Rizos, "Kilometre-scale Jovian moon characterized for a potential JUICE flyby", Nature Astronomy, July 2026; "Kallichore", NASA, 2024-01-25; Denk, "Outer Moons of Jupiter", tilmanndenk.de, 2025; Rizos, "Kilometre-scale Jovian moon characterized for a potential JUICE flyby", Nature Astronomy, July 2026; Denk, "Io and the Minor Jovian Moons – Prospects for JUICE", Space Science Reviews, 5 March 2026 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Kallichore (moon)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Marsden, "MPEC 2003-E29 : S/2003 J 9, 2003 J 10, 2003 J 11, 2003 J 12; S/2003 J 1, 2003 J 6", Minor Planet Electronic Circulars, 2003-03-07; Sheppard, "IAUC 8089: Sats OF JUPITER; 2003bo, 2003bp,, 2003bq; C/2002 V1", IAU Circular, 2003-03-07, p. 1; "MPC Explorer - Jupiter 44", Minor Planet Center; Green, "IAUC 8502: V5115 Sgr = N Sgr 2005; 2005ay; Sats OF JUPITER", IAU Circular, 2005-03-30, p. 5; "Kallichore", NASA, 2024-01-25; "Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers", Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature; "Kallichore", NASA, 2024- en.wikipedia.org
  5. Denk, "Kallichore (S/2003 J 11)", tilmanndenk.de, 2025-12-17. facts only, no text reused. tilmanndenk.de
  6. Wikipedia, "Kallichore (moon)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Brozović, "The Orbits of Jupiter's Irregular Satellites", The Astronomical Journal, March 2017, p. 147; "Kallichore", NASA, 2024-01-25; "Planetary Satellite Mean Elements", JPL Solar System Dynamics; Frouard, "The long-term dynamics of the Jovian irregular satellites", Astronomy & Astrophysics, August 2011, p. A44; Brozović, "The Orbits of Jupiter's Irregular Satellites", The Astronomical Journal, March 2017, p. 147; Denk, "Io and the Minor Jovian Moons – Prospects for JUICE", Space Science Reviews, 5 March 2026; "Planetary Satellite en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Kallichore (moon)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Kallichore", NASA, 2024-01-25; Rizos, "Kilometre-scale Jovian moon characterized for a potential JUICE flyby", Nature Astronomy, July 2026; Rizos, "Kilometre-scale Jovian moon characterized for a potential JUICE flyby", Nature Astronomy, July 2026; Denk, "Io and the Minor Jovian Moons – Prospects for JUICE", Space Science Reviews, 5 March 2026; Rizos, "Kilometre-scale Jovian moon characterized for a potential JUICE flyby", Nature Astronomy, July 2026 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Kallichore (moon)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers", Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature; "Kallichore", NASA, 2024-01-25; Sheppard, "New Satellites of Jupiter Discovered in 2003", University of Hawai i Institute for Astronomy, 2004-02-04; Cowen, "Moonopolies", Science News, 2003-11-18; Sheppard, "An abundant population of small irregular satellites around Jupiter", Nature, 2003-05-15, p. 261–263; Denk, "Kallichore (S/2003 J 11)", tilmanndenk.de, 2025-12-17; Sheppard, "IAUC 8089: Sats OF JUPITER; 2003bo, 2003bp,, 2003bq; C/2002 V1", IAU Circu en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Kallichore (moon)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Denk, "Io and the Minor Jovian Moons – Prospects for JUICE", Space Science Reviews, 5 March 2026; Rizos, "Kilometre-scale Jovian moon characterized for a potential JUICE flyby", Nature Astronomy, July 2026 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Green, "IAUC 8502: V5115 Sgr = N Sgr 2005; 2005ay; Sats OF JUPITER", IAU Circular, 2005-03-30, p. 5. facts only, no text reused. cbat.eps.harvard.edu
  11. "Planet and Satellite Names and Discoverers", Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. facts only, no text reused. planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Kallichore (moon) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Carme (moon)

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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