The Solar System - Word Search - PUZZLE #40 HAUMEA - August 2025

PUZZLE #40 - HAUMEA 

IN-CONTEXT WORD DEFINITIONS

Rapid: Haumea spins incredibly fast, completing a full rotation in just under four hours. This rapid rotation is responsible for its distinctive elongated shape.

Hi'iaka: This is the larger and outer of Haumea's two known moons, discovered in 2005. It is thought to be a fragment of Haumea, resulting from a past collision.

Namaka: This is the smaller and inner of Haumea's two known moons, discovered in 2005. Like Hi'iaka, it is believed to be a collisional fragment.

Haumea is a significant dwarf planet residing in the Kuiper Belt.: undefined

Spinner: Haumea is the fastest rotating large object in the Solar System, completing a rotation in just 3.9 hours. This rapid spin has stretched it into its elongated shape.

Trans-Neptunian: This term describes objects that orbit the Sun beyond the orbit of Neptune. Haumea is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) located in the Kuiper Belt.

Jacobi Ellipsoid: This is a specific type of triaxial (three unequal axes) ellipsoid shape that a rotating fluid body, like Haumea is thought to have been in its early stages, can assume under the influence of its own gravity and rapid rotation. Haumea's elongated shape is consistent with a Jacobi ellipsoid.

Collisional: Haumea is the largest member of a collisional family, a group of icy objects that share similar orbital characteristics and are believed to be fragments from a large impact event involving Haumea itself. Hi'iaka and Namaka are also part of this family.

Goddess: Haumea is named after the Hawaiian goddess of childbirth and fertility. The names of its moons, Hi'iaka and Namaka, are also derived from Hawaiian mythology, reflecting Haumea's children.

Secret Word: Haumea is classified as a dwarf planet, which is a type of celestial object. It is a large enough object to have been pulled into a somewhat round shape by its own gravity, but it has not cleared its orbit of other debris.