On September 17, the International Astronomical Union announced that 2003 EL61 would be classified as the fifth named dwarf planet and officially designated Haumea. The name was chosen after meetings of the IAU’s Committee on Small Body Nomenclature and the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature. The number of dwarf planets is now five: Ceres, Eris, Haumea, Makemake and Pluto.
The 2,200 km ellipsoidal body—deformed due to a four-hour rotation period—is just beyond the orbit of Pluto and has two satellites. Orbiting among the Trans-Neptunian objects, Haumea is currently 50 astronomical units from the Sun but can get as close as 35 A.U. The astronomical unit is the average Earth-Sun distance and a standard measure of distance within the solar system.
In Hawaiian mythology, Haumea is the goddess of childbirth and fertility.