Kari (moon)

For the similarly named asteroid, see 832 Karin.

Kari (/ˈkɑːri/ KAR-ee; in Icelandic, [ˈkaʊri]), or Saturn XLV (provisional designation S/2006 S 2), is a natural satellite of Saturn. Its discovery was announced by Scott S. Sheppard, David C. Jewitt, Jan Kleyna, and Brian G. Marsden on June 26, 2006, from observations taken between January and April 2006.

Kari is about 7 kilometres in diameter, and orbits Saturn at an average distance of 22,305.1 Mm in 1243.71 days, at an inclination of 148.4° to the ecliptic (151.5° to Saturn's equator), in a retrograde direction and with an eccentricity of 0.3405. The rotation period has been determined to 7 hours and 42 minutes.

It was named in April 2007 after Kári, son of Fornjót, the personification of wind in Norse mythology.

References

• Institute for Astronomy Saturn Satellite Data
• IAUC 8727: Satellites of Saturn June 30, 2006 (discovery)
• MPEC 2006-M45: Eight New Satellites of Saturn June 26, 2006 (discovery and ephemeris)
• IAUC 8826: Satellites of Jupiter and Saturn April 5, 2007 (naming the moon)
• Denk, T., Mottola, S. (2013): Irregular Saturnian Moon Lightcurves from Cassini-ISS Observations: Update. Abstract 406.08, DPS conference 2013, Denver (Colorado), October 10, 2013 (synodic rotation period)