~170 km
ESTIMATED DIAMETER
18.3 DAYS
ORBITAL PERIOD
~25,657 km
DISTANCE FROM HAUMEA
2005
DISCOVERED
INNER
HAUMEA MOON
SMALLER
HAUMEA'S TWO KNOWN MOONS
THE INNER MOON
Namaka is the smaller and inner moon
of the dwarf planet Haumea.
It was discovered in 2005 by a team of
astronomers studying the distant Haumea
system.
Namaka orbits Haumea at an average
distance of roughly 25,700 kilometres
and completes one revolution in about
18 Earth days.
Its orbit is unusual because it is strongly
affected by Haumea's rapid rotation and
by the gravitational influence of the
larger moon Hiʻiaka.
Like Hiʻiaka, Namaka is thought to contain
a significant amount of water ice.
The unusual orbits of Haumea's moons
provide important evidence about the
violent collision that may have created
the Haumea system.
NAMAKA FEATURES
INNER MOON
Namaka is the inner of Haumea's
two known natural satellites.
UNUSUAL ORBIT
Namaka follows an unusually tilted
and eccentric orbit around Haumea.
WATER ICE
Observations suggest that Namaka's
surface contains water ice.
DID YOU KNOW?
Namaka completes an orbit around
Haumea in only about 18 days,
despite being tens of thousands of
kilometres from the dwarf planet.
ORBONIX · DWARF PLANETS
NAMAKA · MOON OF HAUMEA
NAMAKA · MOON OF HAUMEA