dwarf-planet moon · moon of the dwarf planet Haumea
Hiʻiaka
The larger, outer moon of the dwarf planet Haumea, a bright body coated in crystalline water ice.
- Distance from Earth today
- 7.58 billion km50.70 AU · light: 7 h 2 min
- Distance from the Sun today
- 7.45 billion km49.83 AU
- As of
- 3 November 2026position from NASA/JPL orbital elements
Where it is today
Top view of the plane of Earth’s orbit, compressed distance scale. Open on the big map with the time slider →
Facts
The JPL tables do not list this moon’s parameters yet – we will add figures once they appear in open NASA/JPL data.
Discovery: 2005 – Michael E. Brown et al. (Keck Observatory)
Description
Hiʻiaka is the larger and more distant of Haumea's two moons, discovered in 2005 by Michael Brown's team with the Keck Observatory. Its spectrum shows a surface of almost pure crystalline water ice, similar to Haumea itself, which supports the idea that both moons are fragments from a collision with the dwarf planet. Following its orbit allowed astronomers to measure Haumea's mass. It is named after a Hawaiian goddess, a daughter of Haumea and patron of the island of Hawaiʻi.