Dwarf Planet 136108 Haumea approaches opposition.

The Dwarf Planet 136108 Haumea will reach opposition (i.e. be directly opposite the Sun seen from Earth) at 8.47 am GMT on Thursday 23 April 2026. This means that it will both be at its closest to the Earth this year, about 42.1 AU (42.1 times the average distance between the Earth and the Sun, or about 6 298 255 000 km), and completely illuminated by the Sun. While it is not visible to the naked eye observer, the planets have phases just like those of the Moon; being further from the Sun than the Earth, 136108 Haumea is 'full' when directly opposite the Sun. 

The orbit and position of 136108 Haumea and the planets of the Solar System at 9.00 am on Thursday 23 April 2026. JPL Small Body Database Browser.

At opposition, the Dwarf Planet will be in the constellation of Bootes and at its highest point in the sky at about midnight local time from anywhere on Earth (this is because the rising and setting of objects in the sky is caused by the Earth's rotation, not the movement of the object). (Even at it's very brightest 136108 Haumea will only have a Magnitude of 17.3, making it almost impossible to see with any but the largest of Earth-based telescopes, and where resolvable it will only be possible to see it as a point of light indistinguishable from a faint star.

136108 Haumea orbits the Sun on an eccentric orbit tilted at an angle of 28.2° to the plane of the Solar System, which takes it from 34.4 AU from the Sun (34.4 times the average distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun) to 51.5 AU from the Sun (51.5 times the average distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun). With an average distance of 43.0 AU, 136108 Haumea completes one orbit around the Sun every 282 years. This means that the planet is almost stationary compared to the faster moving Earth, so that it reaches Opposition only one day later each year than the year before, and reaches Solar Conjunction (when it is directly on the opposite side of the Sun to the Earth), roughly six months later.

136108 Haumea was discovered on 28 December 2004 by a team led by Mike Brown of the Palomar Observatory in California, in images taken by them on 28 May 2004; on 27 July 2005 a team led by José Luis Ortiz Moreno and his team at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía reported that they had also discovered the Dwarf Planet, in images taken between 7 and 10 March 2003. With a diameter of 2100 km it is considered to be the third largest dwarf planet in the Solar System (after 134340 Pluto and 136199 Eris) as well as the eighteenth largest body in the Solar System, excluding the Sun (several moons, including our own, are larger).

Haumea has been calculated to be rotating once every 3.9 hours, far more rapidly than any other large body in the Solar System. Curiously for such a fast rotating body, it has not adopted a oblate spheroid (flattened sphere) shape, but is instead a triaxial ellipsoid (elongate flattened sphere, or flattened egg-shape). This implies that, although its surface is comprised of ice, it has a core of fairly dense rocky material. 

The Dwarf Planet Haumea is believed to rotate in just under 4 hours. This rapid rotation causes the Dwarf Planet to be elongated in appearance. Stephanie Hoover/Wikimedia Commons.

Although Haumea is only about a quarter the size of Pluto, it is thought to be large enough that it should have reached hydrostatic equilibrium (i.e. become approximately spherical due to its own gravity). The elongate shape of Haumea is at odds with this, something which, in combination with its high rotational rate, has been suggested as evidence of a major collision in Haumea's past. This has been supported by the discovery in 2017 of a ring surrounding the dwarf planet with a radius of about 2285 km. This is well within the Roche limit for Haumea (the distance below which a ring or other orbiting body should be disrupted by the parent body's gravity and either fall onto it or be ejected), suggesting that this is a temporary structure caused by a relatively recent event (although still potentially billions of years ago, given the weak gravitational forces involved).

136108 Haumea rotating within its ring system. Tom Ruen/Wikimedia Commons.

136108 has two small moons, both of which were discovered in 2005 by Darin Ragozzine and Michael Brown, at that time working at the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawai'i. The larger of these, Hi'iaka, is roughly 370 km in diameter (although, like its parent body, it has been calculated to have an elongate, non-spherical shape) and orbits at a distance of 49 400 km, completing one orbit every 49.5 days. The smaller, Namaka, has been calculated to be about 150 km in diameter with an irregular shape, and to orbit at a distance of approximately 25 500 km.

Both the rings of 136108 Haumea and the larger moon, Hi'iaka, follow orbital paths 1-3° offset from the equator of the dwarf planet, and are thought to be products of the same collision. The smaller moon, Namaka, has an orbit offset by 69° from the equator of Haumea. This moon is thought to have been formed in the same collision, but to have had it's orbit perturbed significantly by tidal interactions with the larger moon.

Dwarf Planet Haumea and its satellites, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope's WFC2 camera from 12 May 2008 and 19 May 2008. The brighter dot orbiting Haumea is the larger outer moon Hi'iaka while the fainter dot is the smaller inner moon Namaka. This animation of the moons' orbits spans 7 days and the orbital plane of Namaka is oriented vertically. Hubble Space Telescope/Michael Brown/Wikimedia Commons.

136108 Haumea is thought to be a member of a collisional family of Kuiper Belt objects; the only collisional family identified from this part of the Solar System. This family has been named the Haumea, or Haumean, Family in reference to its largest known member. Collisional families are groups of bodies which appear to have been created in a single collision event, and whose orbital trajectories can in theory all be traced back to a single point of origin, although this is not the case for the Haumea Family, which are thought to have had their orbital paths modified over time by interactions with the gravitational field of Neptune. 

As well as 136108 Haumea and its ring and moons, this family is thought to include the Kuiper Belt Objects (19308) 1996 TO66, (24835) 1995 SM55, (55636) 2002 TX300, (86047) 1999 OY3, (120178) 2003 OP32, (145453) 2005 RR43, (202421) 2005 UQ513, (308193) 2005 CB79, (315530) 2008 AP129, (386723) 2009 YE7, (416400) 2003 UZ117, (523645) 2010 VK201, (543454) 2014 HZ199, (612620) 2003 SQ317, (653589) 2014 QW441, (671467) 2014 LO28, and (673087) 2015 AJ281, as well, presumably, of other as yet undiscovered bodies.

The orbits of the bodies of the Haumea Collisional Family (not all are shown). Tom Ruen/Wikimedia Commons.

As well as having similar orbital properties, the bodies of the Haumea Family all share a similar high albedo (with the exception of (202421) 2005 UQ513), which suggests a surface largely covered by reflective water ice, rather than the darker, reddish, tholins (frozen organic compounds) which cover the surface of most Kuiper Belt objects. (202421) 2005 UQ513 has a lower albedo and a reddish spectrum, suggesting that it has an outer surface covered with tholins, but is included within the Haumea Family due to the similarity of its orbit.

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Stela depicting Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar as Egyptian Pharaoh discovered at Karnak Temple.

Archaeologists from the Egyptian-French Center for the Study of the Temples of Karnak have uncovered a stela (stone tablet) depicting the Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar as the Egyptian Pharaoh while working on a restoration project, according to a press release issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on their Facebook Page. The stela, which is approximately 60 cm high, 40 cm wide, and 10 cm deep, is made out of sandstone and depicts the Emperor dressed as a Pharaoh and making an offering to the Egyptian gods Amun-Ra, Mut, and Khonsu. 

A stela discovered at the Temple of Karnak in Luxor, depicting the Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar dressed as Pharaoh of Egypt making offerings to the Egyptian gods Amun-Ra, Mut, and Khonsu. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Amun-Ra, Mut, and Khonsu (known as the 'Thebian Triad') were a trinity of gods worshipped at Thebes, who became important throughout Egypt from the New Kingdom onwards. Amun-Ra was a fusion of the earlier gods, Amun, one of the eight deities the Old Kingdom held responsible for the creation of the universe, and the Sun God Ra. His consort, Mut (which translates as 'mother') was said to have given birth to the world, and everything in it. This originally appears to have been a separate creation myth, but over time she became associated with Amun-Ra, with the pair becoming a divine couple. The god Khonsu was seen as the son of this divine couple, and was also associated with the creation of the universe, as well as having responsibility for moving the Moon across the heavens. 

Paying tribute to this triad of gods was an important part of the duties of the Pharaoh, who was the head of the Egyptian religion as well as ruler of the country. The title of Pharaoh passed to the Roman Emperors when the state was brought into the Roman Empire by the first emperor, Augustus, in 27 BC, which meant such duties at least in theory passed to the Roman ruler. It is, however, unlikely that Tiberius (or any other emperor) travelled to Egypt to perform the role, it is likely that having a representative do this was acceptable to the Egyptians. Egypt had previously been part of the Achaemenid Empire, whose rulers were equally unlikely to travel to Egypt for local religious ceremonies, so it is likely that a procedure for this eventuality was available long before the Roman conquest.

On the Roman side, adopting local religions was a part of the strategy used in integrating new territories into their Empire, often by declaring that local gods were aspects of, or alternative names for, their own gods. This often involved investment in temples, shrines, and other religious infrastructure that local sects had not previously enjoyed, increasing the status of the local religion, and provided people travelling from the provinces with impressive temples to their own gods in Rome. In Egypt, the same approach had already been taken by the Ptolemaic Pharaohs, who had paired Egyptian gods with their Greek equivalents, providing a template for the Romans to follow. Thus Amun was seen as the equivalent of Jupiter, a respectable god for a Roman Emperor to be depicted worshipping.

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World Earth Day.

World Earth Day is celebrated on 22 April each year, and is marked by events to promote environmental awareness around the world. The day was first marked in the US in 1970, as a response to the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, in which an oil well 10 km off the coast of Santa Barbara blew out, resulting in the release of an estimated 11 million litres of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean, killing more than 10 000 Seabirds, Dolphins, Seals, and Sea Lions. Events have been held internationally since 1990, and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change was signed on World Earth Day in 2016.

Events on World Earth Day are coordinated by the Earthday organisation, which describes its mission as 'to broaden, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide', and works with over 150 000 partner organisations in more than 192 countries around the world.

The theme of World Earth Day 2026 is 'Our Power, Our Planet ™', which has been chosen to reflect the 'Fundamental truth that transcends political cycles. Environmental stewardship has never depended on a single administration, institution, or election. It is sustained by the daily decisions of communities, educators, workers, innovators, and families who understand that protecting the places they live and work is both a responsibility and a long-term investment.'

The official Earth Day 2026 poster. Earthday.

The aim of Earth Day 2026 is to affirm that environmental progress is real, resilient, and ongoing despite policy uncertainty. Innovation, education, and community problem-solving remain durable. Local systems - cities, schools, Tribal nations - continue implementing solutions that strengthen energy reliability, conserve resources, and reduce risk because they’re grounded in economic sense and public safety. 

This aim is built upon two pillars.

Pillar One: Resilience and Institutional Continuity. 

• The work continues regardless of federal policy. 
• Environmental action is local and decentralised - policy shifts happen in your town, not just Washington. 
• Progress is already operational, not aspirational - solar programs, efficiency investments, ecosystem restoration exist and are working. 
• Economics, education, and conservation outlast political cycles - these don't disappear with an administration change. 

Pillar Two: Shared Interests and Interconnected Outcomes. 

• Environmental protection affects everyone, everywhere. 
• Human health - asthma, lead, climate-driven illness affect real families. 
• Economic security - farmers, fishers, firefighters all depend on a healthy environment. 
• Spiritual & moral values - stewardship of the Earth isn't political, it's biblical. 
• Global ecosystems - what happens over there affects what happens here. 
• Quality of life - can my kids fish in the local stream? Can they breathe clean air?

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The Lyrid Meteor Shower.

The Lyrid Meteor Shower is expected to be visible between Thursday 16 and Saturday 25 April this year (2022), and will be at peak visibility on Wednesday 22 April. With the First Quarter Moon not falling till the 24th this year,  there should be a good chance to see some meteors in cloudless areas. At its peak the Lyrid Meteor shower typically produces about 20 meteors per hour, though higher rates have been recorded. The Lyrid Meteors take their name from the constellation of Lyra, from which they appear to radiate, at a point close to the star Vega, which will be above the horizon for most of the night from most places in the Northern Hemisphere, while rising at about midnight in much of the Southern Hemisphere. Viewing is typically best in the hours before dawn, although peak meteor activity should occur at about 8.00 pm GMT.

The Radiant Point (i.e. point from which the meteors appear to radiate) of the Lyrid Meteors. Bruce McClure/Joni Hall/EarthSky/Wikimedia Commons.

Meteor streams are thought to come from dust shed by comets as they come close to the Sun and their icy surfaces begin to evaporate away. Although the dust is separated from the comet, it continues to orbit the Sun on roughly the same orbital path, creating a visible meteor shower when the Earth crosses that path, and flecks of dust burn in the upper atmosphere, due to friction with the atmosphere.

The Earth passing through a stream of comet dust, resulting in a meteor shower. Not to scale. Astro Bob.

The Lyrid Meteors are comprised of debris from the comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher (named after its discoverer, the astronomer A. E. Thatcher, not the politician). This is a long-period comet that spends most of its time in the Oort Cloud, only visiting the inner Solar System once every 415 years, the last occasion being in 1861. When the comet visits the inner Solar System it is heated by the Sun, melting the ices that make up its surface and releasing a trail of dust, which continues to follow the path of the comet. The Earth passes through this trail in April each year, creating a light show as the dust particles burn in the upper atmosphere.

How the passage of the Earth through a meteor shower creates a radiant point from which they can be observed. In The Sky.

Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher completes one orbit every 415 years on an eccentric orbit tilted at 79.8° to the plane of the Solar System, that takes it from 0.92 AU from the Sun (92% of the average distance at which the Earth orbits the Sun) to 106 AU from the Sun (110 times as far from the Sun as the Earth, and more than three times the distance at which the planet Neptune orbits the Sun). The comet last visited the Inner Solar System in 1891, and is expected to return again in 2306. As a comet with an orbital period of more than 200 years it is considered to be a Long Period Comet.

The orbit and current position of Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. JPL Small Body Database.

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Magnitude 7.5 Earthquake off the coast of the Sanriku Coast of Japan.

The Japan Meteorological Agency recorded a Magnitude 7.5 Earthquake at a depth of about 10 km, about 100 km off the Sanriku Coast, which lies on the northeastern part of Honshū Island, slightly before 4.55 pm Japan Standard Time (slightly before 7.55 am GMT) on Monday 20 April 2026. 

A tsunami warning was issued in the immediate aftermath of the event, with about 170 000 advised to seek shelter, but in the event, no major tsunami occurred, with a wave 80 cm high being observed in places.  Rail services were temporarily suspended. A number of aftershocks have followed the initial event.

The approximate location of the 20 April 2026 Sanriku Coast Earthquake. USGS.

Japan has a complex tectonic situation, with parts of the country on four different tectonic plates. Aomori Prefecture lies on the convergent margin where the Okhotsk Plate is pushed against the Eurasian Plate, with the Pacific Plate being subducted beneath the Okhotsk Plate to the east. This is not a smooth process; the rocks of the two plates constantly stick together, only to break apart again as the pressure builds up, causing Earthquakes in the process.

The movement of the tectonic plates beneath Japan. University of Wisconsin Eau Claire.

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