Kore (Jupiter XLIX): a small retrograde moon of Jupiter

Physical characteristics

Kore is very small—about 2 kilometres in diameter by common estimates—and is non-spherical in shape. Like other tiny irregular satellites, it is expected to have an irregular, heavily cratered surface and a low albedo, but its composition is not well constrained by direct observation. The moon's shape and size suggest it may be a fragment of a larger body broken apart in a past collision or a captured asteroid from the surrounding solar system.

Orbit and group membership

Kore follows a distant, inclined, and eccentric retrograde path around Jupiter. Key orbital parameters are commonly reported as:

• Mean distance from Jupiter: ~23,239,000 km
• Orbital period: ~723.72 days
• Inclination: ~141° to the ecliptic (about 139° to Jupiter's equator)
• Eccentricity: ~0.2462

Because of its retrograde motion and orbital characteristics, Kore is associated with Jupiter's population of irregular, retrograde satellites often grouped together on dynamical grounds.

Discovery and designation

Kore was discovered in 2003 by a team from the University of Hawaii led by Scott S. Sheppard. Upon discovery it received the provisional label S/2003 J 14; later it was numbered and given the permanent name Jupiter XLIX. Measurements that established its small size are cited in discovery data sets and survey follow-ups (size estimate).

Name and cultural origin

The name Kore derives from Greek mythology: Kore is another name for Persephone, daughter of Demeter (κόρη, "daughter"). The official naming follows the convention of assigning names from classical mythology to Jupiter's moons and was approved after the satellite's orbit was well determined (naming source).

Importance and observational notes

Although tiny, Kore and moons like it are scientifically valuable as tracers of Jupiter's collisional history and of capture processes in the early Solar System. Their orbits and groupings can reveal past disruptive events. Precise values for inclination (inclination data), eccentricity (eccentricity data), and statements on non-spherical shape (shape reference) are maintained in satellite catalogs and refined with continued observations.

Further study of Kore depends on improved photometry and astrometry from ground-based surveys and occasional spacecraft opportunities; until then, most knowledge remains limited to basic orbital and size estimates.