Written by Derek Kessler on
Thursday, 02 October 2008
The International Astronomical Union is welcoming a new dwarf planet into the league of dwarf planets: Haumea. Previously known as 2003 EL61, the football-shaped dwarf planet is about 2000 km long – as long as Pluto is wide - but only weighs in at a third of Pluto’s mass. Haumea is composed almost entirely of rock with a crust of pure ice. It is joining Ceres, Pluto, Eris, and Makemake as our solar system’s dwarf planets.
The odd shape of Haumea is theorized to be the result of the planet’s extremely fast rate of rotation: once every four hours. It is a trans-Neptunian object, going out as far as 51.5 AU and in close to 35 AUG (Pluto’s orbit ranges from 49 AU to 29.5 AU). It also has two small companion objects, which appear to have been knocked off of Haumea by impacts in the past.
Haumea is named after the Hawaiian goddess of fertility. The two companion bodies garnered the names of Hi’iaka and Namaka, two of the children born from Haumea according to Hawaiian myth.
The International Astronomical Union is welcoming a new dwarf planet into the league of dwarf planets: Haumea. Previously known as 2003 EL61, the football-shaped dwarf planet is about 2000 km long – as long as Pluto is wide - but only weighs in at a third of Pluto’s mass. Haumea is composed almost entirely of rock with a crust of pure ice. It is joining Ceres, Pluto, Eris, and Makemake as our solar system’s dwarf planets.
