schuymarch1
07-22-2008, 01:52 AM
The International Astronomical Union (IAU), the body that demoted Pluto (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2006-08-24-pluto_x.htm), has now formally dubbed the object formerly known unofficially as "Easterbunny" and officially as 2005 FY9. The newest member of the dwarf planet family (http://www.iau.org/public_press/themes/pluto/) will be called "Makemake" — which isn't a redundancy or a child's happy gibberish. It's the name of the Polynesian creator of humanity and the god of fertility.
It's also pronounced "MAH-keh MAH-keh" and is one of the largest known objects (http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0702538v1)in our outer solar system -- those objects that dwell beyond Neptune. Just a bit smaller and dimmer than Pluto, the dwarf planet is reddish. Astronomers think its surface is a layer of frozen methane.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/sciencefair/2008/07/the-fourth-dwar.html
It's also pronounced "MAH-keh MAH-keh" and is one of the largest known objects (http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0702538v1)in our outer solar system -- those objects that dwell beyond Neptune. Just a bit smaller and dimmer than Pluto, the dwarf planet is reddish. Astronomers think its surface is a layer of frozen methane.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/sciencefair/2008/07/the-fourth-dwar.html