The Planets

Haumea Facts

Haumea is the third closest dwarf planet to the Sun and is located beyond the orbit of Neptune. It has about 1/3 the mass of Pluto and was discovered by 2004 by a team from Caltech at the Palomar Observatory in the United States in a project headed by Mike Brown. However, Haumea was also "discovered" in 2005 by a team headed by J. L. Ortiz at the Sierra Nevada Observatory in Spain - a claim which has been contested.

You can recognize Haumea because of its elongated shape. This makes it the least spherical of all the dwarf planets.

Size of Haumea compared to the Earth

Side by side comparison of the size of Haumea vs Earth
Side by side comparison of the size of Haumea vs Earth

Facts about the dwarf planet Haumea

  • Haumea’s ellipsoid shape is believe to be the result of its rapid rotation, similar to the way a water balloon which stretch out when thrown with a spin. This rotational speed, along with its collisional origin make Haumea one of the densest dwarf planets discovered to date.
  • It was classified as dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) on September 17th, 2008 and is named for Haumea, the Hawaiian goddess of childbirth.
  • Haumea has two small satellites (moons) orbiting the planet called Hi’iaka & Namaka. These were discovered by Mike Brown’s team in 2005 through observations using the W.M. Keck Observatory.
  • The planet’s moons are thought to be the result of a collision from a large object with Haumea billions of years ago – causing pieces of Haumea to fragment and begin orbiting the planet.
  • One day on Haumea lasts 3.9 Earth hours because it is one of the fastest rotating large objects in the solar system.
  • The dwarf planet is made from rock with a thick coating of ice, according to scientists.
  • Haumea is the third brightest object in the Kuiper belt, 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.