dwarf-planet moon · moon of the dwarf planet Haumea
Namaka
The smaller, inner moon of Haumea, whose orbit is strongly disturbed by its sibling Hiʻiaka and Haumea's elongated shape.
- 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
Namaka is the smaller and inner of Haumea's two moons, found in 2005 by Michael Brown's team at the Keck Observatory a few months after Hiʻiaka. Its orbit is noticeably tilted and stretched, and it is perturbed both by the gravity of Hiʻiaka and by the elongated shape of Haumea. Like its sibling, it is thought to be a piece of icy debris from an ancient collision. Namaka is named after a water spirit in Hawaiian mythology, one of the daughters of Haumea.