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.[1] Hiʻiaka was the goddess of dance, and Namaka was the goddess of water and the sea.[1] The two moons were discovered in 2005 by the telescopes at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Haumea_Hubble.png/220px-Haumea_Hubble.png)
The moons were formed billions of years ago after something crashed into Haumea and broke apart its layer of ice. Hiʻiaka, which is about 350 km (220 mi) in diameter,[2] 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.[3]
Hiʻiaka was discovered on 26 January, 2005,[4] and was first nicknamed "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer".[5] Namaka was discovered on 30 June, 2005, and was given the nickname "Blitzen the Reindeer."[3] They were given their official names by the International Astronomical Union on 17 September, 2008.[6]