Namaka (moon)
In this photo taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, Namaka is the faint spot near the bottom, directly below Haumea (center). | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, David Rabinowitz, et al. |
| Discovery date | 30 June 2005 |
| Designations | |
Designation | Haumea II (136108) Haumea II |
| Pronunciation | /nɑːˈmɑːkə/ Hawaiian: [naːˈmɐkə] |
| (136108) 2003 EL61 II S/2005 (2003 EL61) 2 | |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch JD 2454615.0 | |
| 25657±91 km | |
| Eccentricity | 0.249±0.015 (in 2009; variable) |
| 18.2783±0.0076 d | |
| 178.5°±1.7° | |
| Inclination | 113.013°±0.075° 13.41°±0.08° relative to Hiʻiaka (in 2008; variable) |
| 205.016°±0.228° | |
| 178.9°±2.3° | |
| Satellite of | Haumea |
| Physical characteristics | |
| ~85 km (if albedo is same as primary's 0.7±0.1) | |
| Mass | (1.79±1.48)×1018 kg (0.05% the mass of Haumea) |
Mean density | (assumed to be near 1 g/cm3) |
| ? | |
| Albedo | 0.8±0.2 |
| Temperature | 32±3 K |
| 21.9 (4.6 difference from primary's 17.3) | |
Namaka, formal designation (136108) Haumea II, is the smaller, inner moon of the trans-Neptunian dwarf planet Haumea. Discovered in 2005, it is named after Nāmaka, the goddess of the sea in Hawaiian mythology and one of the daughters of Haumea. Namaka is notable for its unusual, highly-perturbed orbit that is heavily influenced by the larger, outer moon Hiʻiaka.