38628 Huya

Lore & Background

Huya was discovered on 10 March 2000 by the Quasar Equatorial Survey Team (QUEST), led by Gustavo Bruzual and Charles Baltay at the Llano del Hato National Astronomical Observatory in Mérida, Venezuela. Venezuelan astronomer Ignacio Ferrín first identified it during a computer-assisted search through images taken from a six-hour survey of deep-sky objects on the night of 15 March 2000. The discovery was announced by the Minor Planet Center on 3 June 2000. Precovery images from the Palomar Observatory's Samuel Oschin telescope taken on 9 April 1996 were later found, extending the observation arc to four years. Huya was assigned the minor planet number 38628 on 28 March 2002.

Huya is named after Juyá, the mythological rain god of the Wayuu people native to South America. The discovery team, led by Ferrín, chose the name to represent Venezuela's indigenous peoples and because Ferrín presumed Huya had experienced multiple impact events during its formation, which he considered analogous to rain. The name was approved by the International Astronomical Union in 2003. Huya's surface is moderately red due to complex organic compounds; water ice has been suspected but not directly detected. It has one known moon, which is relatively large and is expected to have slowed Huya's rotation, though measurements indicate the rotation may not be synchronous with the moon's orbit.

Huya orbits the Sun at an average distance of 39.4 AU, taking 247 years to complete an orbit. Its orbit is inclined 15.5 degrees to the ecliptic and has an eccentricity of 0.28, ranging from 28.5 AU at perihelion to 50.3 AU at aphelion. Huya passed perihelion in December 2014 and is now moving away from the Sun. Stellar occultations by Huya have been observed, including the first successful detection on 18 March 2019, which placed upper limits on a possible atmosphere and rings. The moon was detected in occultations on 28 March 2021, 17 February 2023, and 24 June 2023.

Reader's Guide

Huya holds significance as a mid-sized trans-Neptunian object and a plutino, sharing a 3:2 orbital resonance with Neptune similar to Pluto. Its discovery in 2000 by the Quasar Equatorial Survey Team was initially considered notable because its apparent magnitude of 20 suggested it might be one of the largest minor planets discovered since Ceres, with astronomers speculating it could be the second-largest minor planet after Ceres and the largest Kuiper belt object found since Pluto in 1930. The discovery team leader, Charles Baltay, emphasized the significance of finding something new in the solar system after many years. Huya's binary nature, with a relatively large moon, adds to its scientific interest, as the moon is expected to have influenced Huya's rotation. The study of Huya's opposition surge in 2001 made it the first trans-Neptunian object other than Pluto to have this phenomenon studied. Stellar occultations have provided constraints on its size, shape, and the absence of a detectable atmosphere or rings, while also allowing detection of its moon. The naming after the Wayuu rain god Juyá reflects a deliberate choice to honor indigenous culture, despite later IAU naming conventions for plutinos requiring underworld deity names.

Did You Know?

• Huya was first identified by Venezuelan astronomer Ignacio Ferrín during a computer-assisted search of images from a six-hour survey.
• Huya's provisional designation 2000 EB173 indicates it was the 4327th object discovered in the first half of March 2000.
• The first successful stellar occultation by Huya was observed on 18 March 2019, with 21 positive detections from Romania, Turkey, and Israel.
• Huya is named after Juyá, the rain god of the Wayuu people, and the name was chosen to represent Venezuela's indigenous peoples.