50 Fun Facts About Makemake

No probe has visited Makemake. How does it appear even through a large telescope?

Its angular diameter is only about 38 milliarcseconds, so no high-resolution image of its surface exists.

In which region of the Solar System does Makemake orbit?

It is a disc of icy bodies beyond Neptune, and Makemake is the largest member of its classical population.

Makemake's diameter is roughly what fraction of Pluto's?

At about 1,430 km across it is also roughly 11% the diameter of Earth.

Which astronomer led the team that discovered Makemake?

The same Caltech team also found Eris and Haumea, and Brown later wrote a memoir titled How I Killed Pluto.

In which year was Makemake discovered?

The discovery images were taken on March 31, but Brown did not spot the object until April 3.

At which observatory was Makemake discovered?

The team used a CCD camera on the 1.22-metre Samuel Oschin telescope in California.

What nickname did the discovery team give Makemake before it was formally named?

It was found shortly after Easter; the team's other big finds were nicknamed Santa (Haumea) and Xena (Eris).

Makemake is named after a creator god from the mythology of which people?

The choice kept the object's link to Easter while satisfying the IAU rule that classical objects in that region take creator-deity names.

What was Makemake's provisional designation before it was named?

2003 UB313 became Eris, 2003 EL61 became Haumea and 2007 OR10 became Gonggong.

What is Makemake's minor-planet catalogue number?

It was assigned by the Minor Planet Center in September 2005 once the orbit was well determined; 134340 is Pluto and 136199 is Eris.

In which year did the IAU approve the name Makemake?

Brown had toyed with naming it after the goddess Eostre or the trickster rabbit Manabozho before settling on Makemake.

Which two other large trans-Neptunian objects had Brown's team found in the months before Makemake?

Fear of being scooped by a Spanish team led Brown to rush the announcement of Eris and Makemake in July 2005.

The announcement of Makemake and its large neighbours helped push the IAU to do what in 2006?

The new definition of planet required a body to have cleared its orbital neighbourhood, which Pluto has not.

Roughly how long does Makemake take to orbit the Sun?

Its moderately elliptical orbit ranges from about 38 AU at perihelion to nearly 53 AU at aphelion.

What is Makemake's average distance from the Sun, in astronomical units?

That is about 6.8 billion km; 39.5 AU is Pluto's average distance and 68 AU is Eris's.

Makemake's orbit is tilted about how far from the ecliptic?

This high inclination kept it out of earlier sky surveys, which is why it was found so late despite being so bright.

Makemake was the fourth object formally recognised as a dwarf planet. Which were the first three?

Makemake was also the first object named under the IAU's new procedures for likely dwarf planets.

Makemake belongs to which subcategory of dwarf planets, defined by orbiting beyond Neptune?

Ceres, in the asteroid belt, is the only recognised dwarf planet that is not one.

Makemake ranks where among known dwarf planets by size?

Pluto, Eris and Haumea are bigger; Makemake's average diameter is around 1,430 km.

Makemake's mass is roughly what percentage of Pluto's?

Its mass was worked out from the orbital period and distance of its moon; it is only about 3.7% the mass of Earth's Moon.

What shape did the 2011 stellar occultation reveal Makemake to be?

Its dimensions match a Maclaurin spheroid, a rotating body in hydrostatic equilibrium.

Makemake's rotation period is uncertain between two values. Which pair?

Its brightness barely varies (0.03 magnitudes), so astronomers cannot tell whether it peaks once or twice per spin.

What gives Makemake its reddish-brown tint?

Makemake is less red than Pluto but somewhat redder than Eris; the mix forms when radiation breaks down surface ices.

With a geometric albedo of about 82%, Makemake is more reflective than which larger dwarf planet?

The brightness suggests its surface ice is freshly deposited, covering the darker material beneath.

Roughly how cold is Makemake's surface?

That is around -240 C, cold enough for volatile ices to stay solid.

Unlike Pluto and Eris, Makemake's surface appears to lack which two ices?

The lighter of the two is volatile enough to escape Makemake's weaker gravity; the other absence is harder to explain.

Which observatory set the limits showing Makemake has less than 3% nitrogen ice on its surface?

With nothing to mix with, Makemake's surface ice can grow into thick slabs of sintered particles.

Which spacecraft measured Makemake's phase curve while heading out past Pluto?

It looked at Makemake from 52 AU in 2007 and 70 AU in 2017, angles impossible from Earth.

What is Makemake's bulk density, roughly?

That is similar to Pluto, Gonggong and Quaoar, and suggests an interior of rock and water ice.

What does Makemake's unusually low deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio in methane suggest?

Deuterium-poor gas could form in subsurface water at around 150 °C, heated by the core.

Which space telescope first reported Makemake's excess mid-infrared emission in 2008?

Astronomers first blamed patches of dark, warm terrain, but that idea could not explain the tiny brightness variability.

In 2025, Csaba Kiss and colleagues proposed that Makemake's mid-infrared excess could come from what?

The hotspot could be around 150 K and cover only about 350 square kilometres, yet emit heat comparable to Enceladus's geysers.

Makemake is the second trans-Neptunian object confirmed to have gas around it. Which was first?

It is still unclear whether the methane gas is a bound atmosphere or temporary outgassing.

If Makemake's methane is a bound atmosphere, its surface pressure would be about how much versus Earth's?

Roughly 10 picobars, a million times thinner than Pluto's air.

How many known moons does Makemake have?

It is still unnamed; its provisional designation records the year of the images it was found in, 2015.

What unofficial nickname does Makemake's moon go by?

It is about 1,300 times fainter than Makemake and probably has a very dark surface.

Which observatory took the images in which Makemake's moon was found?

The images were taken in April 2015 and the discovery announced almost exactly a year later.

What is the orbital period of Makemake's moon?

It orbits at roughly 22,250 km, on a path seen nearly edge-on from Earth when it was found.

Makemake's moon is estimated to be about how large across?

A dark 175-km moon would help explain some of Makemake's excess mid-infrared radiation.

In which constellation did Makemake lie when it was discovered in 2005?

It has sat in Coma Berenices since discovery and will drift into Boötes in late 2028.

The earliest known precovery image of Makemake dates from which year?

That photographic plate predates the discovery by just over 50 years, about 16% of one Makemake orbit.

Where were the telescopes that recorded the only observed stellar occultation by Makemake, in April 2011?

Seven of sixteen participating sites saw the star wink out; the event ruled out any substantial global atmosphere.

Which planet's gravity assist features in most proposed flyby routes to Makemake?

A 2011 study found a launch in August 2036 could reach Makemake in just over 16 years.

Makemake is the second brightest trans-Neptunian object in Earth's sky. Which is brighter?

Eris is intrinsically brighter but much farther away; Makemake peaks around magnitude 17, within reach of a high-end amateur telescope.

Makemake's Unicode symbol, added in 2022, is a stylised version of what?

Designed by Denis Moskowitz and John T. Whelan, it is drawn to resemble the letter M and is used mostly by astrologers.

Which Spanish team's July 2005 announcement of Haumea prompted Brown to rush out Makemake's discovery?

Brown found his observing logs had been accessed from Ortiz's institute and phoned the Minor Planet Center two days later.

What codename did Brown's software automatically assign Makemake on discovery?

The team's friendlier nickname, Easterbunny, reflected the object's discovery just after Easter.

Makemake is the largest member of which dynamical population of trans-Neptunian objects?

Its high-inclination, low-eccentricity orbit puts it in the 'dynamically hot' classical group, thought to have been scattered by Neptune long ago.

Makemake's surface is dominated by frozen methane plus smaller amounts of which hydrocarbons?

Its 82% albedo suggests the methane frost is freshly deposited.

Which point of its orbit will Makemake reach in May 2033?

It sat 52.7 AU from the Sun as of 2025 and will not cross the ecliptic plane until 2103.