{{Infobox planet

| name = Carme

| image = Carmé.jpg

| caption = Carme photographed by the Haute-Provence Observatory in December 1998

| pronounced =

| adjective = Carmean

| named_after = Κάρμη Karmē

| mpc_name = Jupiter XI

| alt_names =

| discovery_ref =

| discoverer = Seth B. Nicholson

| discovery_site = Mt. Wilson Observatory

| discovered = 30 July 1938

| earliest_precovery_date =

| satellite_of = Jupiter

| group = Carme group

| orbit_ref =

| epoch = 17 December 2020 (JD 2459200.5)

| observation_arc = 82.02 yr (29,958 days)

| semimajor =

| eccentricity = 0.2294925

| period = –693.17 d

| mean_anomaly = 17.48241°

| mean_motion = / day

| inclination = 163.53496° (to ecliptic)

| asc_node = 209.94088°

| arg_peri = 133.45035°

| mean_diameter =

| mass = (calculated)

| density = 1.63 g/cm3 (assumed)

| surface_grav =

| escape_velocity =

| rotation =

| albedo =

| magnitude = 18.9

| abs_magnitude = 10.5

| spectral_type = D

}}

Carme is one of the largest irregular satellites of Jupiter.

Discovery and naming

thumb|left|upright|Carme observed by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft in 2014

It was discovered by Seth Barnes Nicholson at Mount Wilson Observatory in California in July 1938.

It is named after the mythological Carme, mother by Zeus of Britomartis, a Cretan goddess.

Carme did not receive its present name until 1975;IAUC 2846: Satellites of Jupiter 1974 October 7 (naming the moon) before then, it was simply known as . It was sometimes called "Pan" between 1955 and 1975 (Pan is now the name of a satellite of Saturn).

Orbit

Carme orbits Jupiter at an average distance of 22,579,859 km in 693.17 days, at an inclination of 165° to the ecliptic, in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.23. They are continuously changing due to solar and planetary perturbations.

It gives its name to the Carme group, made up of retrograde irregular moons orbiting Jupiter at distances ranging between 22.7–23.5 million km, at an inclination of about 165°, and eccentricities between 0.24 and 0.28.

Physical characteristics

With a diameter of (Albedo 3.5), it is the largest member of the Carme group and the fourth-largest irregular moon of Jupiter.

Like the other members of the Carme group (except for Kalyke) it is light red in color (B−V=0.76, V−R=0.47), similar to D-type asteroids.

The rotation period was found to be approximately 10 hours and 24 min. This was regarded by a later paper as uncertain due to the short observation periods.

Origin

Carme probably did not form near Jupiter but was captured by Jupiter later. Like the other members of the Carme group, which have similar orbits, Carme is probably the remnant of a broken, captured heliocentric asteroid.

See also

  • Kallichore (moon) – a small Carme group moon that might be visited by the European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) mission in 2031
  • Irregular satellites
  • Jupiter's moons in fiction

References

<references>

<ref name="MPC127087">{{cite web

|title = M.P.C. 127087

|url = https://minorplanetcenter.net/iau/ECS/MPCArchive/2020/MPC_20201117.pdf

|work = Minor Planet Circular

|publisher = Minor Planet Center

|date = 17 November 2019}}</ref>

<ref name="SheppardMoons">{{cite web

|title = Scott S. Sheppard - Jupiter Moons

|url = https://sites.google.com/carnegiescience.edu/sheppard/moons/jupitermoons

|last = Sheppard |first = Scott

|work = Department of Terrestrial Magnetism

|publisher = Carnegie Institution for Science

|access-date = 26 November 2020}}</ref>

<ref name="Luu1991">{{cite journal

|first = Jane |last = Luu

|date = September 1991

|title = CCD photometry and spectroscopy of the outer Jovian satellites

|journal = Astronomical Journal

|volume = 102

|pages = 1213–1225

|issn = 0004-6256

|doi = 10.1086/115949

|bibcode = 1991AJ....102.1213L}}</ref>

<ref name="Grav2015">{{cite journal

|display-authors = etal

|first1 = T. |last1 = Grav

|first2 = J. M. |last2 = Bauer

|first3 = A. K. |last3 = Mainzer

|first4 = J. R. |last4 = Masiero

|first5 = C. R. |last5 = Nugent

|first6 = R. M. |last6 = Cutri

|date = August 2015

|title = NEOWISE: Observations of the Irregular Satellites of Jupiter and Saturn

|journal = The Astrophysical Journal

|volume = 809

|issue = 1

|id = 3

|pages = 9

|doi = 10.1088/0004-637X/809/1/3

|arxiv = 1505.07820 |bibcode = 2015ApJ...809....3G|s2cid = 5834661 |url = https://authors.library.caltech.edu/61254/1/Grav_2015.pdf }}</ref>

<ref name="Denk2026">{{cite journal

|display-authors = etal

|first1 = Tilmann |last1 = Denk

|first2 = David A. |last2 = Williams

|first3 = Federico |last3 = Tosi

|first4 = James F. |last4 = Bell III

|first5 = Stefano |last5 = Mottola

|first6 = Imke |last6 = de Pater

|title = Io and the Minor Jovian Moons – Prospects for JUICE

|journal = Space Science Reviews

|date = 5 March 2026

|volume = 222

|issue = 2

|article-number = 27

|doi-access = free

|doi = 10.1007/s11214-025-01263-6

|bibcode = 2026SSRv..222...27D}}</ref>

</references>

  • Carme Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
  • David Jewitt pages
  • Jupiter's Known Satellites (by Scott S. Sheppard)