Haumea

noun

astronomy

: a dwarf planet that orbits within the Kuiper belt with a mean distance from the sun of 43 astronomical units (6.45 billion kilometers) and a diameter of approximately 890 miles (1,430 kilometers)

Like Pluto, the dwarf planet Haumea is one of the largest known Kuiper Belt objects that lie beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is thought to be the remnant of an even larger body, which fragmented as a result of a collision, leaving behind Haumea itself … and a cluster of smaller icy debris whose surface properties and orbits have been shown to match those of Haumea.

—Science, 24 Apr. 2009

Word History

First Known Use

2009, in the meaning defined above

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