Makemake was discovered on March 31,2005 by a team led by Michael E Brown, and announced on July 29,2005.
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17 Facts About Makemake
2.
Makemake was discovered on March 31,2005, by a team at the Palomar Observatory, led by Michael E Brown, and was announced to the public on July 29,2005.
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3.
Makemake is the brightest trans-Neptunian object after Pluto, with an apparent magnitude of 16.
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4.
The starting position was very close to the galactic anticenter, and Makemake would have been almost impossible to find against the dense background of stars.
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5.
Makemake follows an orbit very similar to that of Haumea: highly inclined at 29° and a moderate eccentricity of about 0.
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6.
Makemake will reach its aphelion in 2033, whereas Haumea passed its aphelion in early 1992.
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7.
Makemake is a classical Kuiper belt object, which means its orbit lies far enough from Neptune to remain stable over the age of the Solar System.
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8.
Makemake is a member of the "dynamically hot" class of classical KBOs, meaning that it has a high inclination compared to others in its population.
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9.
Makemake is, probably coincidentally, near the 13:7 resonance with Neptune.
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10.
Makemake was the fourth dwarf planet recognized, because it has a bright V-band absolute magnitude of 0.
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11.
Makemake has a highly reflective surface with a geometrical albedo of 0.
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12.
Spectral analysis of Makemake's surface revealed that methane must be present in the form of large grains at least one centimetre in size.
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13.
Makemake was expected to have an atmosphere similar to that of Pluto but with a lower surface pressure.
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14.
However, on 23 April 2011 Makemake passed in front of an 18th-magnitude star and abruptly blocked its light.
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15.
Presence of methane and possibly nitrogen suggests that Makemake could have a transient atmosphere similar to that of Pluto near its perihelion.
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16.
The existence of an atmosphere provides a natural explanation for the nitrogen depletion: because the gravity of Makemake is weaker than that of Pluto, Eris and Triton, a large amount of nitrogen was probably lost via atmospheric escape; methane is lighter than nitrogen, but has significantly lower vapor pressure at temperatures prevalent at the surface of Makemake, which hinders its escape; the result of this process is a higher relative abundance of methane.
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17.
Makemake would be approximately 52 AU from the Sun when the spacecraft arrives.
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