Weywot (moon)


Weywot, officially Quaoar I Weywot, is the only known moon of the trans-Neptunian object and possible dwarf planet 50000 Quaoar. Discovered by Michael Brown and T.A. Suer using images acquired by the Hubble Space Telescope on 14 February 2006, its existence was announced in an IAU Circular notice published on 22 February 2007. Weywot has an estimated diameter of . The satellite was found at 0.35 arcseconds from Quaoar with an apparent magnitude difference of 5.6.

Orbit

Two possible orbits for Weywot have been determined from the observations: the first is a prograde orbit with an orbital inclination of 14 degrees, the second a retrograde orbit with an orbital inclination of 30 degrees ; the other parameters are very similar between the two orbits. Weywot orbits at a distance of from Quaoar and has an orbital eccentricity of about 0.14, it completes one orbit in about 12.5 days.

Physical characteristics

Weywot is estimated to be around in diameter, based on a stellar occultation by Weywot in 2019. Weywot was estimated to be in diameter, based on observations with the Herschel Space Observatory in 2013. Prior to the Herschel Space Observatory measurements, Weywot was measured be about 74 km according to its apparent magnitude, under the assumption that Weywot has an equal albedo and density to Quaoar. Weywot is estimated to only have the mass of Quaoar.

Name

Upon discovery, Weywot was issued a provisional designation,. Brown left the choice of a name up to the Tongva, whose creator-god Quaoar had been named after. The Tongva chose the sky god Weywot, son of Quaoar. The naming of Weywot was officially announced in a Minor Planet Circular notice published on 4 October 2009. It was thought that Weywot may have originated from a collision with Quaoar and another large Kuiper belt object.