Q 01/05

How does Makemake appear from Earth, even through a large telescope?

A) A star-like point of light

B) A small crescent shape

C) A fuzzy comet-like blob

D) A disc with visible dark patches

Answer · why

A) A star-like point of light

A star-like point of light is all any telescope shows, because Makemake is too small and distant to resolve. Astronomers measured its size by timing h...

Q 02/05

In which region of the Solar System does Makemake orbit?

A) The asteroid belt

B) The Oort cloud

C) The Kuiper belt

D) Between Saturn and Uranus

Answer · why

C) The Kuiper belt

The Kuiper belt is a doughnut-shaped zone of icy bodies beyond Neptune. They are leftovers from the Solar System's birth that never managed to gather ...

Q 03/05

Which of these is wider than Makemake?

A) The Moon

B) Charon

C) Ceres

D) Vesta

Answer · why

A) The Moon

The Moon, Earth's own, is more than twice as wide as Makemake. In fact it is bigger than every known dwarf planet, though unlike them it circles a pla...

Q 04/05

Makemake's discovery team, led by Mike Brown, was based at which California university?

A) Stanford

B) Caltech

C) UC Berkeley

D) UCLA

Answer · why

B) Caltech

Caltech, in Pasadena, was home base. The survey telescope worked robotically through the night and sent its images there each morning for Brown's team...

Q 05/05

What gave Makemake away among the background stars?

A) Motion

B) Colour

C) Warmth

D) Flicker

Answer · why

A) Motion

Motion: the telescope shot each patch of sky three times over a few hours, and computers flagged whatever had shifted against the fixed stars.