Weywot

Weywot is a natural satellite of the dwarf planet 50000 Quaoar, located in the Kuiper belt. It was discovered in 2006 from observations with the Hubble Space Telescope by a team led by astronomer Mike Brown. The name Weywot comes from Tongva mythology, where Weywot is Quaoar’s son; the name was approved by the International Astronomical Union.

Weywot is a small, irregularly shaped moon. Its size is not precisely known and depends on the albedo assumed for the object; estimates place its diameter in the tens to low hundreds of kilometers. It orbits Quaoar at a substantial distance and has an orbital period on the order of weeks, with measurements indicating a moderately eccentric orbit.

The discovery of Weywot contributed to the understanding that the Kuiper belt contains multiple-body systems and has been used to help constrain Quaoar’s mass and density through orbital dynamics. The moon remains a focus of study for the formation and evolution of satellite systems in the outer Solar System, though its faintness makes detailed observations challenging.