Moons of Haumea

The dwarf planet Haumea has two known moons, Hiʻiaka and Namaka. They are named after the daughters of the Hawaiian goddess of fertility and childbirth, Haumea.   Hiʻiaka was the goddess of dance, and Namaka was the goddess of water and the sea. The two moons were discovered in 2005 by the telescopes at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

The moons were formed billions of years ago after something crashed into Haumea and broke apart its layer of ice. Hiʻiaka, which is about  in diameter,   is the larger of the two moons, and it is farther away from the planet. It has large amounts of ice on its surface. Namaka, which is only one-tenth the size, has a strange orbit, affected by the larger moon.

Hiʻiaka was discovered on 26 January, 2005,   and was first nicknamed "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer".   Namaka was discovered on 30 June, 2005, and was given the nickname "Blitzen the Reindeer."   They were given their official names by the International Astronomical Union on 17 September, 2008.

References

Other websites
 Animation of the orbits of Haumea's moons 
 International Year of Astronomy 2009 podcast: Dwarf Planet Haumea (Darin Ragozzine)

Category:Dwarf planets
Category:Moons