- 3969 - DWARF PLANET - Haumea. Haumea is a “dwarf planet” that was first spotted by astronomers looking at observations made between 2003 and 2004, earning it the name “2003 EL61”.
------------------------ 3969 - DWARF PLANET - Haumea
- Until 2008,
it was classified as a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO), a reclassification by the International
Astronomical Union deemed it a dwarf planet, joining, Pluto, Eris, and Makemake
in the Kuiper Belt and Ceres in the asteroid belt.
-
- Located in
the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune, this frigid dwarf planet reaches both
opposition (the point directly opposite the sun from the perspective of Earth)
and perigee (the point in its orbit closest to Earth) tonight. It visible in
the night sky in the constellation Boötes.
-
- At that time, it was given the name Haumea
after the Hawaiian goddess of fertility.
The dwarf planet, which is roughly the size of Pluto, takes about 285
years to orbit the sun, and its distance from Earth varies from 34 to 51
astronomical units, or AU (one AU is the distance between the Earth and the
Sun). As it's reaching perigee, that puts it at a distance of 34 AU.
-
- Haumea
spins so fast that its shape is more football-like than round. Though its orbit
might be quite slow, Haumea rotates extremely fast. It takes just four hours to complete one
rotation. Because of the centrifugal force it experiences due to this
rotational speed, Haumea is stretched out like a football instead of round like
most other planets and dwarf planets.
-
- Haumea is
also the only known dwarf planet to have rings, and it also has two small
moons, Namaka and Hi'iaka, which are the daughters of Haumea in Hawaiian
mythology.
-
- Haumea,
together with Pluto, Makemake, and Eris, lies in the Kuiper belt. This area is
like the bigger asteroid belt, located beyond Neptune’s orbit. The other known
planet, Ceres, is located in the main asteroid belt.
-
- The
ellipsoid shape of Haumea is believed to be the result of its rapid rotation.
Think of the way a water balloon stretches out when thrown with a spin. This
rotational speed, along with its collisional origin makes Haumea one of the
densest dwarf planets discovered to date.
-
- It has two
small satellites (moons) called Hi’iaka & Namaka. These were discovered in
2005 using the W.M. Keck Observatory.
-
- Haumea’s
moons are thought to be the result of a collision with a large object billions
of years ago. This event caused pieces of Haumea to fragment and begin orbiting
the planet.
-
- A ring
around Haumea was discovered in 2017. This was the first ring system ever
discovered beyond Neptune‘s orbit.
-
- One day on
Haumea lasts only 3.9 Earth hours. With that, it is one of the fastest rotating
large objects in the solar system.
-
- Haumea is
made of rock with a thick coating of ice. It has a high albedo because of
crystalline water ice on its surface. In fact, it is believed to be as bright
as snow!
-
- According to
estimates, Haumea is the third-largest known trans-Neptunian object (TNO). The
first two are Pluto and Eris. It has one-third of Pluto’s mass and 1/1400 that
of Earth.
-
- Haumea is
the third brightest object in the Kuiper belt. That is, after the dwarf planets
Pluto and Makemake. On a clear night with a good quality telescope, this makes
it possible to see Haumea in the night sky,
-
April 21, 2023 DWARF PLANET
- Haumea 3969
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--------------------- --- Saturday, April 22,
2023 ---------------------------
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