Haumea

Haumea

      unusual dwarf planet orbiting the Sun in the Kuiper belt beyond Pluto. It was discovered in 2003 by a team of American astronomers at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Originally called 2003 EL61, Haumea is named for the Hawaiian goddess of birth and fertility. Haumea is an elongated object, unusual for a dwarf planet; its dimensions are 980 × 750 × 500 km (610 × 470 × 310 miles). It has a fast rotation period of 3.9 hours, which may be the reason for Haumea's elongation. Eight other Kuiper belt objects have orbits similar to Haumea's; these objects and Haumea's fast rotation may have been caused by a collision of Haumea with some object in the distant past. Unlike most objects in the Kuiper belt, Haumea is not an equal mixture of ice and rock but has a thin icy crust covering a rocky interior. (The name Haumea alludes to this structure since the goddess Haumea is also associated with stone.) In 2005 two moons of Haumea were discovered and were subsequently named after daughters of Haumea. The larger moon, Hi‘iaka, is named after the goddess of the island of Hawaii and of the hula; the smaller moon, Namaka, is named after a water spirit. In September 2008 the International Astronomical Union designated Haumea as the fifth dwarf planet and the fourth plutoid.

Erik Gregersen
 

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Haumea — may refer to:*Haumea (mythology), a goddess of fertility and childbirth in Hawaiian mythology *Haumea (dwarf planet), a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt *Haumea (bivalve), a genus of scallop …   Wikipedia

  • Haumea — steht für eine hawaiische Fruchtbarkeitsgöttin, siehe Haumea (Mythologie) den nach ihr benannten Zwergplaneten (136108) Haumea eine Gattung der Muscheln, siehe Haumea (Gattung) Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterscheidung meh …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Hauméa — ou Haumea (prononcé [hʌuˈmɛja] en hawaïen) est la déesse hawaïenne de la fertilité et de la naissance. Avec Kāne Milohai, elle est la mère de Pélé, Kā moho aliʻi, Nāmaka, Kapo et Hiʻiaka. Sorcière puissante, elle donna la vie à de nombreuses… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Haumea — (136108) Haumea (136108) Haumea Vue d artiste de (136108) Haumea et de ses satellites, Hi iaka (en bas à droite) et Namaka (en haut à gauche) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Haumea — El término Haumea puede referirse a: Haumea, la diosa hawaiana de la fertilidad y el alumbramiento; Haumea, un planeta enano del Sistema Solar, descubierto en 2004; Haumea, un género de moluscos bivalvos de la familia Pectinidae. Esta página de… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Haumea (dwarf planet) — Infobox Planet bgcolour = #FFFFC0 name = Haumea caption = Artist s conception of Haumea, with its moons, Hiokinaiaka and Namaka discovery = yes discoverer= Brown et al. ; Ortiz et al. (neither official) discovered=2004 December 28 (Brown et al.… …   Wikipedia

  • Haumea (Zwergplanet) — (136108) Haumea (Zwergplanet) Mit dem Computer erzeugte Darstellung der Proportionen von Haumea Eigenschaften des Orbits ( …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Haumea (planeta enano) — Para otros usos de este término, véase Haumea. Haumea Representación artística de Haumea y sus dos satélites Hiʻiaka y Namaka Descubrimiento …   Wikipedia Español

  • Haumea family — The Haumea family is the only identified Trans Neptunian collisional family; that is, the only group of TNOs with similar orbital parameters and physical characteristics that suggest they originated in the disruptive impact of a progenitor… …   Wikipedia

  • Haumea (mitología) — Para otros usos de este término, véase Haumea. Haumea es, en la mitología hawaiana la diosa de la fertilidad y los partos. Es la diosa patrona de la Isla de Hawái, donde se ubica el Observatorio Mauna Kea, que en aún polémica controversia con… …   Wikipedia Español

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”