in Huya's brightness. The results showed a gradual increase in brightness near opposition, indicating a low geometric albedo. Huya became the first trans-Neptunian object other than Pluto to have its opposition surge measured. Huya appeared to display very little variability in brightness, with an estimated light curve amplitude of less than 0.097 magnitudes. Rotation The rotation period of Huya is unknown due to the flat appearance of its light curve, displaying very little variability in brightness. Preliminary photometric observations of Huya in 2000 have reported no indication of variability greater than three percent of its brightness over a period of 1.25 hours. Follow-up photometric observations of Huya at opposition in 2001 yielded a similarly flat light curve, with an estimated amplitude of less than 0.097 magnitudes. The small amplitude of Huya's light curve suggests that it may be oriented in a pole-on configuration, with its rotational axis pointing toward Earth. The discovery of a large satellite around Huya implies that it could be tidally locked to its satellite, although the satellite's orbit is unknown. While Huya's rotation is expected to slow down on a timescale that is short compared to the age of the Solar System through mutual tidal forces with its satellite, several photometric observations of Huya indicate a variability of several hours, suggesting that Huya may not be tidally locked to its satellite. In 2002, Ortiz and colleagues obtained a fragmentary rotation period of hours for Huya, along with other alternative periods of and hours. Their inferred rotation period was derived from data sets of short-term photometry taken separately in February and March 2002. Their mean solution of for Huya's rotation period appeared consistent with previous photometric observations, with an amplitude less than 0.1 magnitudes. However, the rotation period determined by Ortiz was later determined to be an alias of Huya's brightness variability. In 2014, Thirouin suggested a shorter fragmentary rotation period of 5.28 hours, tentatively determined from short-term photometric observations conducted in 2010 through 2013. Like the former rotation period inferred by Ortiz, the latter period obtained by Thirouin was based on fragmentary photometric data and may be erroneous by a factor of 30 percent or more. Exploration In a study published by Ashley Gleaves and colleagues in 2012, Huya was considered as a potential target for an orbiter mission that would be launched on an Atlas V 551 or Delta IV HLV rocket. For an orbiter