Satellite of 38628 Huya
Huya and its satellite (indicated with arrow) imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2002 | |
| Discovery | |
|---|---|
| Discovered by | Keith S. Noll William M. Grundy Hilke Schlichting Ruth Murray-Clay Susan D. Benecchi |
| Discovery date | 6 May 2012 |
| Orbital characteristics | |
| Epoch 2 May 2002 12:00 UTC (JD 2452400.0) | |
| 1898+22 −21 km | |
| Eccentricity | 0.036+0.017 −0.015 |
| 3.46293±0.00001 d | |
| 147°+23° −17° | |
| Inclination | 65.8°±1.9° (to ecliptic) |
| 122.9°+1.7° −1.6° | |
| 101°+17° −24° | |
| Satellite of | Huya |
| Physical characteristics | |
| 165–243 km 213±30 km (same albedo) | |
| 21.6 | |
| 6.68±0.18 | |
The Kuiper belt object 38628 Huya has a single known natural satellite, which as of 2025 has no official designation. Huya and its satellite form a binary system, and are together referred to as the Huya system. The satellite was discovered by a team led by Keith Noll using Hubble Space Telescope images taken on 6 May 2012, and confirmed in reexamination of archival Hubble imagery from 30 June and 1 July 2002. The discovery was reported to the International Astronomical Union and was announced on 12 July 2012.