Haumea (dwarf planet)

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/haumea-dwarf-planet

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. Who discovered Haumea (dwarf planet)?2004
2. What is the scientific name?136108 Haumea
3. What is the category?Dwarf planet
4. What is Haumea?Haumea is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt, about 1,960 km wide at its longest side. It looks like a fast‑spinning egg because it spins once every 3.9 hours. Scientists call it a dwarf planet because it is not big enough to clear its orbit.
5. Why does Haumea spin so fast?Haumea probably collided with a huge object long ago, which made it spin very quickly. The fast spin squishes it into an egg shape and helps create its moons and ring.

Oblate Spheroid: A shape that is flattened at the poles and bulges at the equator, like a squashed sphere.
Kuiper Belt: A circumstellar disc in the outer solar system, extending from the orbit of Neptune at 30 AU to approximately 50 AU from the Sun.
Stellar Occultation: An event where a celestial body passes in front of a star, blocking its light, used to detect rings and atmospheres.
Centrifugal Force: An apparent outward force that acts on an object moving radially outward in a rotating coordinate system.