Haumea

Haumea is a dwarf planet found in the Kuiper Belt. The Kuiper Belt is a big cloud of gas, dust, and rocky debris located at the outer edge of our solar system.

Haumea was first discovered in 2004.

Haumea is named after the Hawaiian goddess of childbirth. The two moons in orbit around Haumea were named after two of the children of Haumea. Hi'iaka is the larger moon, while the smaller moon was named Namaka.

It takes 285 Earth years for Haumea to make one trip around the Sun.

Haumea is believed to be shaped like a plump cigar. The dwarf planet's rapid spin is thought to be the cause of this unusual shape.

Haumea has a rotation period of about 4 hours. This is faster than any other known body larger than 100 km in diameter. Scientists believe this rapid rotation was caused by a long ago collision that also created its moons.

Haumea is an oddly-shaped dwarf planet.

Haumea spins rapidly, turning once every four hours, and is believed to be composed mostly of rock with a thin, icy shell and a dark red spot.

Haumea is named for the Hawaiian goddess of fertility and childbirth. Haumea's moons are named for the goddess' two daughters.

Haumea is a dwarf planet shaped like an egg.

Deep searches for regular satellites around Kuiper belt objects are difficult due to observational limitations, but Haumea is one of the few for which sufficient data exist.