SPACE — Haumea is a dwarf planet orbiting the sun far beyond Neptune. It is almost the same size as Pluto and has two moons. One of its striking characteristics is its rotation speed around the axis.
How was Haumea discovered? Just after Christmas in 2004, a team from the Palomar Observatory, led by Mike Brown, discovered a small object the size of Pluto in images taken the previous spring. Astronomers nicknamed the rock “Santa”.
Around the same time that Brown’s team published their information online onlinea group of astronomers from the Sierra Nevada Observatory, led by José Luis Ortiz Moreno, announced their discovery of the object in images taken in March 2003.
Originally designated 2003 EL61, the object was classified as a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO). Until finally the International Astronomical Union classified it as the fifth dwarf planet in the solar system, after Ceres, Pluto, Eris and Makemake.
The following are facts about Haumea:
1. The name Haumea is taken from the Hawaiian goddess who symbolizes birth and fertility. Two of its moons are named after the goddess’s daughters, Hi’iaka and Namaka, who were said to have been born from Haumea’s body.
2. Characteristic Haumea
Haumea takes 285 Earth years to orbit the sun. At its closest, it is only 34 times the distance from the Sun to Earth, while at its farthest, Haumea is more than 51 times further away.
These distances, combined with Haumea’s very small size, make it difficult for scientists to accurately determine its mass and density. However, in 2005, two moons were discovered orbiting the object, allowing scientists to determine the mass of the object.
3. Haumea rotates around its axis once every four hours. This is the fastest rotation of any known large object in the solar system.
4. Haumea’s rapid spin causes this object to look more like a slightly flattened soccer ball spinning end over end, as if it had been kicked. Haumea is about 2,300 kilometers long on its longest axis, but less than 996 km on its shortest.
5. Recent estimates of its mass and shape in 2017 suggest that Haumea’s density is likely similar to Pluto’s. Its shape may be too elongated to qualify as a dwarf planet.
6. Observations of Haumea, revealing a brightly shining surface. Scientists concluded that, although most of Haumea’s interior is rocky, the dwarf planet is covered by a thin layer of ice.
7. Haumea also appears to have dark red patches on its surface that may contain more minerals and organic compounds than the surrounding ice. In 2017, astronomers also discovered a ring system around Haumea, which was discovered when Haumea passed in front of the star URAT1 533-182543 on January 21, 2017.
The starlight also helped astronomers measure Haumea’s longest axis more accurately, finding that it was about 17 percent larger than previously thought.
8. The Moons of Haumea
Haumea’s two moons were discovered following observations at the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii in 2005. Haumea’s moons are much smaller than Haumea. The largest, Hi’iaka, is only about 1 percent as heavy as Haumea, while the smaller, fainter Namaka is about one-tenth as heavy as Haumea.
2024-02-10 00:15:00
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