Satellite
Quaoar has one known satellite, Weywot, formally (50000) Quaoar I Weywot. Its discovery was reported in IAUC 8812 on 22 February 2007. The satellite was found at 0.35 arcsec from Quaoar with an apparent magnitude difference of 5.6. It orbits at a distance of 14,500 km from the primary and has an orbital eccentricity of about 0.14. Assuming an equal albedo and density to the primary, the apparent magnitude suggests that the moon has a diameter of about 74 km (1:12 of Quaoar). Brown believes it is likely to be a collisional fragment of Quaoar, which he speculates lost much of its ice mantle in the process. Weywot is estimated to only have 1:2000 the mass of Quaoar.
Brown left the choice of a name up to the Tongva, who chose the sky god Weywot, son of Quaoar. The name was made official in MPC #67220 published on October 4, 2009.
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