Makemake is a small world.
It is far out in space. It is very cold there. It looks like a bright star. It has a small moon too.
Do you want to visit it?
Makemake is a small, round world.
It lives far away from the Sun. It is in a place with many icy objects.
Its surface is very bright. It is covered in frozen gas. The surface is also a reddish-brown color.
Makemake has one moon.
This moon helps us learn about it. The moon shows that Makemake tilts as it spins.
Because it tilts, it has big seasons. It might even have an ocean of water under the ice. Scientists want to send a probe there one day.
Makemake is a dwarf planet.
A dwarf planet is a round world. It is not big enough to clear its path of other objects. Makemake lives in the Kuiper belt. This is a ring of icy bodies beyond Neptune. It is the largest member of the classical Kuiper belt.
It is the fourth largest object in this region.
Three astronomers found Makemake in 2005. They used a large telescope in California. Its surface is very bright. It is mostly covered in frozen methane. It also has a reddish-brown color. This color comes from tholins.
Makemake has one moon.
The moon helps us learn about the planet. The moon's path shows that Makemake has a high axial tilt. This means it leans as it spins. This tilt causes extreme seasons. Scientists also see signs of cryovolcanism. This is a way that ice and gas move from inside the world. Because of this, it might have a hidden ocean of liquid water under the ice.
Makemake is a dwarf planet located in the Kuiper belt. This is a wide disk of icy objects found far beyond the orbit of Neptune.
Makemake is the largest member of the classical Kuiper belt. It is also the fourth largest trans-Neptunian object in our solar system. This means it is a very large world in that distant region. It is nearly a sphere because its gravity is strong enough to pull it into a round shape.
The surface of Makemake is quite interesting to study. It is very reflective and mostly covered in frozen methane. This ice gives the world a bright appearance. However, it is also stained a reddish-brown color by things called tholins.
Scientists have also found gaseous methane near the surface. They are not sure if this gas stays in an atmosphere. It might instead come from temporary outgassing from the ground. There is even evidence of cryovolcanism, which is a way that ice and gas move from inside the world. This activity makes some scientists think a hidden ocean of liquid water might exist under the ice.
Three American astronomers discovered Makemake on March 31, 2005.
Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David Rabinowitz found it using the Samuel Oschin telescope in California. They were searching for large objects in the outer solar system. The discovery was very important for our understanding of space. It helped lead to the decision to reclassify Pluto as a dwarf planet in 2006. The team even gave it the nickname "Easterbunny" because they found it shortly after Easter. Eventually, they chose the name Makemake to honor a creator god from Rapa Nui myths.
Makemake has many specific measurements that help us understand its size. Its diameter is about 1,430 kilometers. This is about 60% the size of Pluto.
It orbits the Sun once every 307 years. Its path is quite tilted compared to the other planets. This tilt is about 29 degrees. Makemake also has one known moon that orbits it. We do not know the name of this moon yet. The way the moon moves suggests that Makemake has a high axial tilt. This tilt would cause very extreme seasons on the surface.
Even though Makemake is far away, it is still a subject of great interest. It is so far from Earth that it looks like a tiny star through a telescope.
Because it is so distant, no space probe has visited it yet. This means we do not have any high-resolution images of its surface. Scientists want to send a probe there in the future. They want to learn more about its geology and its possible underground ocean. Studying Makemake helps us learn how the outer edges of our solar system work.
Makemake is a dwarf planet located in the Kuiper belt. The Kuiper belt is a wide disk of icy bodies found beyond the orbit of Neptune.
As the largest member of the classical Kuiper belt, Makemake is a major object in the outer solar system. It is also the fourth largest trans-Neptunian object. This means it is a significant body located past the orbit of Neptune. Scientists classify it as a plutoid. A plutoid is a specific type of dwarf planet that orbits beyond Neptune.
This classification helps astronomers organize the many different objects found in the distant reaches of our solar system.
Astronomers discovered Makemake on March 31, 2005.
The discovery was made by American astronomers Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David Rabinowitz. They used the 1.22-meter Samuel Oschin telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California. The team was searching for large objects in the trans-Neptunian region. While they found the object in March, Michael Brown identified it as exceptionally bright on April 3, 2005. The discovery process was quite dramatic. The team had previously found other large objects like Eris. They originally planned to announce Makemake after Eris. However, another team in Spain announced the discovery of the object Haumea first. To avoid being scooped, Brown contacted the Minor Planet Center to announce the discovery of both Eris and Makemake on July 29, 2005.
The discovery of these large objects changed how we view our solar system. In August 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) created a new definition for a planet. This new definition led to the reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet. Makemake was the first object named under the new IAU procedures for dwarf planets. The name Makemake comes from the myths of the Rapa Nui people of Easter Island. In these myths, Makemake is the creator of humanity and a god of fertility. Before it had this official name, the team used the nickname "Easterbunny" because of the time of year it was found. They also used the computer codename "K05331A." The name Makemake was officially approved by the IAU in July 2008.
Makemake has a very specific shape and size. It is a nearly spherical object. This shape occurs because it is in hydrostatic equilibrium. This means its gravity is strong enough to pull it into a round shape. However, its rotation causes it to be slightly oblate. This means it is a bit flattened at its poles.
The average diameter of Makemake is approximately 1,430 kilometers. This diameter is about 60% of Pluto's diameter. It is also about 11% of Earth's diameter. In terms of mass, Makemake is about 20% the mass of Pluto. It is the fourth-most massive trans-Neptunian object, following Eris, Pluto, and Haumea. Its surface gravity is quite low, at about 3.6% of Earth's gravity.
The environment on Makemake is driven by its unique composition and orbit. The surface is highly reflective and covered largely by frozen methane. This ice is stained a reddish-brown color by compounds called tholins.
Scientists have also detected gaseous methane near the surface. It is not yet clear if this gas is part of a permanent atmosphere. It might instead come from temporary outgassing. There is also evidence of cryovolcanism. Cryovolcanism is a process where ice and gas move from the interior to the surface. This activity leads scientists to suspect that a subsurface ocean of liquid water might exist beneath the crust.
Makemake's movement through space is also quite complex. It follows a moderately elliptical orbit around the Sun.
It takes about 307 years to complete one full orbit. The orbit is quite tilted, with an inclination of 29 degrees relative to the ecliptic plane. This tilt is much higher than the orbits of the major planets. Makemake also has one known satellite, though it has not been named. The orbit of this moon suggests that Makemake has a high axial tilt. This high tilt, combined with its elliptical orbit, likely causes extreme seasons on the surface. Makemake is currently near its aphelion, which is the farthest point from the Sun. It will reach this point again in May 2033.
Even though Makemake is a major object, it remains difficult to study closely. It is so far from Earth that it looks like a star-like point of light through a telescope. No space probe has ever visited Makemake. Because of this, we do not have any high-resolution images of its surface. Scientists are very interested in sending a probe to explore this world. They want to investigate the geological activity and the potential liquid ocean. Studying Makemake helps us understand the "dynamically hot" population of the Kuiper belt. These are objects that were likely scattered by Neptune's gravity during the early history of the solar system.
Where will your curiosity go next?
🖼️ Images & Media (13)
+ 1 more
More to explore
✨ What else?
Related topics you might enjoy
🔬 Go deeper
More advanced topics to explore
🪜 Step back
Simpler topics to build understanding
What is Nepedia?
A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.