The International Astronomical Union revealed the newest
member of the family of dwarf planets in our Solar System: Makemake (pronounced
Mah-Keh, Mah-Keh), the third plutoid in our Solar System. Makemake is a
celestial body slightly smaller than Pluto, which orbits around the Sun, has a
reddish color on its surface and is possibly covered in frozen methane.
By definition, Makemake is a trans-Neptunian planet located
beyond the eighth planet of the Sun, in a region where other similar celestial
bodies with self-sufficient mass and near-spherical shape orbit around the Sun.
Makemake thus joins Eris and Pluto as the third plutoid, but astronomers suspect
that there are at least other 41 celestial bodies that could also meet the
definition.
Makemake joins Eris, Pluto and Ceres, which is the only
dwarf planet in our Solar System to lie in the asteroid belt between Mars and
Jupiter, in the family of dwarf planets in our Solar System. The term of dwarf
planet has officially been adopted by IAU in 2006.
The smallest of the plutoids, Makemake was discovered in March
2005 by a team of scientists led by Michael Brown, from the California
Institute of Technology, and it was first named 2005 FY9 (unofficially known as
Easterbunny). The name Makemake was chosen later on by Michael Brown himself,
after the god of fertility from the Island of Rapa Nui (or the Easter Island).
“We consider the naming of objects in the Solar System very
carefully. Makemake's surface is covered with large amounts of almost pure
methane ice, which is scientifically fascinating, but really not easily relatable
to terrestrial mythology,” Brown explained. However, the Island Rapa Nui came
to mind, and a brief search through mythology brought Makemake to light.
From a visual point of view, Makemake is the
second-brightest Kuiper Belt object after Pluto (the Kuiper Belt extends beyond
the orbit of Neptune, and is a region somewhat similar with the asteroid belt,
with the difference that it is far larger, and it is composed of objects made
of frozen volatiles, not rock and metal).
Makemake is bright enough to be seen through a high-end
amateur telescope, having a peak magnitude of roughly 16.5: "The orbit is not particularly strange, but the object itself is big," Brown said, "probably 2/3 the size of Pluto." Makemake also holds an important role in prompting IAU specialists
to redefine the notion of “planet” and create a new group of dwarf planets. This
is how Pluto became known as a dwarf planet, instead of a planet.
In 2006, the nine planets in our solar system became eight,
while Pluto joined Eris as dwarf planet. Furthermore, Ceres, which was
previously considered to be an asteroid, now qualified for the definition of
dwarf planet as well, although it’s position didn’t also qualify it as plutoid,
as in the other two’s cases.
As of 2006, the Solar System consists of eight planets:
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The now dwarf
planet Pluto was considered an important prototype of a new class of
trans-Neptunian objects.
According to Brown, apart from the official ones,
many other objects in the Kuiper belt may qualify as dwarf planets. Furthermore,
beyond the Kuiper belt there are believed to be approximately 2,000 dwarf
planets.
