Makemake - Wikiparency

# Makemake  **Microsim — three.js (Wikitube framework):** *Makemake in the Solar System explorer* <div class="wt-sim" data-src="https://wikitube-3d-microsims.netlify.app/solar/Solar_System.html?obj=Makemake&embed=1" data-title="Makemake in the Solar System explorer"></div> *The Solar System explorer locked on this article's state (`?obj=Makemake`); every object and population of the [[PORTAL_Solar_System|Solar System portal]] has its own state in the same scene.*  *Try: drag the year slider to 2033 to put Makemake near the far point of its orbit, about 52.8 AU from the Sun; drag to an edge-on view and see its 29° orbit carry it well above the plane of the planets; under show, choose small bodies to see it among the sampled Kuiper belt points, then set the speed to 100 years/s and watch it take about three seconds per lap.* **Makemake** (minor-planet number 136472) is a [[Dwarf_planet|dwarf planet]] of the [[Kuiper_belt|Kuiper belt]], a bright, reddish body about 1,430 km across, roughly three-fifths the diameter of [[Pluto]], that orbits the [[Sun]] every 307 years or so.[^brown2013][^sbdb] It was discovered on images taken on 31 March 2005 by Michael Brown, Chad Trujillo and David Rabinowitz at Palomar Observatory, and its announcement, together with that of [[Eris_(dwarf_planet)|Eris]], fed the debate that led to the [[IAU_definition_of_planet|IAU's 2006 definition of a planet]].[^brown2010][^schilling2009] It is named after the creator god of the Rapa Nui people of Easter Island.[^iau0806] Its surface is dominated by methane ice, bright and freshly frosted, with hydrocarbons produced by radiation that tint it reddish-brown; unlike Pluto and Eris it shows no nitrogen or carbon monoxide ice.[^brown2015][^grundy2024] Observations with the James Webb Space Telescope have found methane gas above the surface and an unexpected excess of mid-infrared emission that may point to present-day activity, and the chemistry of its methane has been read as a sign of a warm interior.[^protopapa2025][^kiss2024][^glein2024] One small, dark moon is known.[^parker2016] The explorer at the top of this page is locked on Makemake: it draws the dwarf planet's orbit from JPL's Small-Body Database at a semi-major axis of 45.6 [[Astronomical_unit|AU]], among the [[Classical_Kuiper_belt_object|classical Kuiper belt objects]]; the belt's points around it are ILLUSTRATIVE samples, not catalogued bodies.[^sbdb] ## History ### Discovery Brown's team had been searching the sky for large bodies beyond [[Neptune]] since 2001, imaging it night after night with a CCD camera on the 1.22-metre Samuel Oschin telescope at Palomar Observatory, California.[^schilling2009][^trujillo2003] Makemake was recorded on 31 March 2005, and Brown spotted it on 3 April while inspecting the images, noting how bright it was.[^brown2010][^mpc] By then the team had already found [[Haumea]] and Eris, both thought at least as large as Pluto, and planned to hold back Makemake until after Eris was announced that October.[^schilling2009][^brown2010] The plan changed when José Luis Ortiz's group in Spain reported Haumea on 27 July 2005. Brown learned that his team's observing logs, which listed the positions of all three objects, had been publicly reachable and had been accessed from Ortiz's institute, and on 29 July he contacted Brian Marsden at the Minor Planet Center to announce Eris and Makemake at once, the same day.[^brown2010][^hecht2005] The appearance of several Pluto-sized bodies sharpened the question of what counts as a planet, which the IAU settled in August 2006 by creating the dwarf-planet category.[^iau2006] ### Name and symbol The object first carried the provisional designation 2005 FY9 and received the number 136472 once its orbit was secure.[^mpc] Brown's team had nicknamed it "Easterbunny", because it was found just after Easter.[^schilling2009][^eso2012] Looking for a formal name, Brown wanted to keep the Easter link but also had to follow the IAU convention of naming classical Kuiper belt objects after creator deities. Makemake, the creator of humanity and god of fertility in the mythology of Rapa Nui, the island Europeans named Easter Island, met both requirements; the IAU approved the name in July 2008.[^iau0806][^brown2010] A symbol for Makemake, designed by Denis Moskowitz and John T. Whelan as a stylised petroglyph of the god's face shaped like the letter M, was added to Unicode in 2022; the IAU discourages planetary symbols in research papers, and it is used mostly by astrologers.[^unicode2022] ## Orbit and classification Makemake's orbit has a semi-major axis of about 45.6 AU, an eccentricity of 0.16 and an inclination of 29°, taking it between about 38.3 AU at perihelion and 52.8 AU at aphelion; one circuit takes roughly 307 years, the value [[Kepler's_laws_of_planetary_motion|Kepler's third law]] gives for that semi-major axis (derived).[^sbdb] It is near the far end of its orbit now, well above the [[Ecliptic|ecliptic]], and will pass aphelion around 2033, cross the ecliptic around 2103 and reach perihelion, below it, around 2186.[^horizons] Long numerical integrations find the orbit stable for billions of years.[^munoz2021] The orbit places Makemake among the classical Kuiper belt objects, bodies between roughly 42 and 48 AU that are not locked in a [[Resonance|resonance]] with Neptune. Within that group it belongs to the dynamically "hot" population, defined by inclinations above about 5°, as distinct from the "cold" population on nearly flat, circular orbits. It is the largest known classical object, yet a small fraction of the belt's total mass.[^moltenbrey2016] The hot classical objects are thought to have been scattered outward by Neptune early in Solar System history, which is why Makemake is sometimes also described as a scattered body.[^desousa2020] Makemake is massive enough to be nearly round but shares its orbital region with many other bodies, so it is a dwarf planet; it was the first body named under the IAU procedure for objects expected to be dwarf planets, and it counts as a plutoid, a dwarf planet beyond Neptune.[^iau0806] The explorer draws the present osculating orbit from JPL elements; the tilt and eccentricity are real, while the body is enlarged for visibility.[^sbdb] ## Size, shape, and mass Makemake's size is known from a stellar occultation on 23 April 2011, observed from sites in South America, which traced its outline as the star disappeared and reappeared.[^ortiz2012] Brown's analysis of the chords gives a slightly flattened shape, about 1,434 km across the equator and at most 1,420 km pole to pole, a mean diameter near 1,430 km; that is about 60 percent of Pluto's diameter and 11 percent of [[Earth]]'s (derived).[^brown2013][^nasa-fs] A flattening of this kind is what a fluid body in hydrostatic equilibrium takes on when it spins, a Maclaurin spheroid, so the result is consistent with Makemake being in equilibrium.[^brown2013] The mass follows from the orbit of Makemake's moon. Bamberger's 2025 preliminary orbit, fitted to Hubble Space Telescope images from 2015–2019, gives a period of 18.023 days and a semi-major axis of 22,250 ± 780 km.[^bamberger2025] Through [[Newton's_law_of_universal_gravitation|Newton's form of Kepler's third law]] these imply a system mass of about 2.7 × 10²¹ kg, uncertain by roughly ±11 percent because of the error in the semi-major axis (derived). That is about a fifth of Pluto's mass and 3.7 percent of the [[Moon]]'s (derived). With a radius of 715 km, the corresponding mean [[Density|density]] is about 1.75 g/cm³ (derived), similar to Pluto's and to that of other large trans-Neptunian objects, and the surface gravity about 0.35 m/s², some 3.6 percent of Earth's (derived).[^fs-pluto][^nasa-fs] ## Rotation Makemake's brightness varies by only about 0.03 magnitudes as it turns, presumably because its surface is nearly uniform, and the small signal has made the rotation period hard to pin down.[^hromakina2019] Earlier studies proposed periods from about 7.8 to 22.5 hours. From photometry spanning 2006–2017, Hromakina and colleagues found a double-peaked period of 22.8266 hours, the value JPL now lists, and an amplitude of 0.032 magnitudes, but the light curve can also be read as a single-peaked curve of half that length, so the period is either about 11.4 or about 22.8 hours.[^hromakina2019][^sbdb][^kiss2024] The orientation of the spin axis has not been measured directly. If Makemake's equator lies in the plane of its moon's orbit, as is usual for moons formed close to their primaries, then the nearly edge-on orbit seen from Earth implies that Makemake is currently seen close to equator-on, with a large axial tilt relative to its orbit.[^parker2016][^bamberger2025] A large tilt combined with an eccentric orbit would give strong seasons, which on Pluto drive the migration of volatile ices across the surface.[^parker2016] ## Geology ### Surface composition and color At 30–40 K the surface is cold enough for methane to stay frozen.[^kiss2024] [[Spectroscopy|Spectroscopy]] since 2005 has shown it to be dominated by methane ice, with smaller amounts of ethane and other hydrocarbons, including ethylene and acetylene.[^licandro2006][^brown2007][^brown2015] These heavier compounds are made from methane by ultraviolet light and cosmic rays, which break methane molecules and set off chains of reactions ending in dark, reddish organic residues called tholins; they give Makemake its reddish-brown tint, less red than Pluto and somewhat redder than Eris.[^brown2015][^verbiscer2022] The surface is still very bright, with a geometric albedo measured at 0.77 in the 2011 occultation and about 0.82 in later photometry, which suggests that fresh methane frost keeps covering the darker material.[^ortiz2012][^hromakina2019] JWST spectra found no nitrogen or carbon monoxide ice, limiting nitrogen to less than 3 percent of the surface ice.[^grundy2024] Losing nitrogen is expected, because it is volatile enough to escape from Makemake's weaker gravity faster than from Pluto's or Eris's; the lack of carbon monoxide is harder to explain.[^schaller2007][^grundy2024] The surface looks much the same at all longitudes, unlike Pluto's mottled face.[^lorenzi2015] ### Interior and possible geological activity A density near 1.75 g/cm³ suggests a mixture of rock and water ice, and a body of Makemake's size is likely to have separated into a rocky core and an icy mantle.[^glein2024] JWST measured the deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio of its methane ice at about 2.9 × 10⁻⁴ and its carbon-13 to carbon-12 ratio at about 0.010.[^grundy2024] The deuterium ratio is well below that in cometary methane. Grundy, Glein and colleagues argued that the methane formed inside Makemake by hydrothermal or metamorphic reactions with water at temperatures of the order of 150 °C, heated by the rocky core, and reached the surface by outgassing or cryovolcanism; Mousis and colleagues countered that the ratio is also compatible with methane inherited from the solar nebula.[^glein2024][^mousis2025] Makemake also emits far more mid-infrared radiation than its cold surface should. Kiss and colleagues confirmed this excess with JWST in 2024 and found that it requires material at about 150 K; they proposed either a currently active region covering less than 1 percent of the surface, possibly [[Radioactive_decay|radiogenically]] heated upwelling or cryovolcanism, or a ring of very fine carbon-rich dust.[^kiss2024] The active-region explanation is favoured because such fine dust would be removed quickly by radiation pressure.[^kiss2024] ## Atmosphere or outgassing In 2025 Protopapa and colleagues reported the fluorescence of methane gas in JWST spectra of Makemake, making it only the second trans-Neptunian object after Pluto with confirmed gas.[^protopapa2025] Two readings fit the data about equally. If the gas forms a bound atmosphere, it would be at about 40 K with a surface pressure of about 10 picobar, some 100 billion times less than Earth's (derived), in balance with the surface methane ice and consistent with the 2011 occultation, which excluded a global atmosphere thicker than about 4–12 nanobar.[^protopapa2025][^ortiz2012] If instead it is escaping in a coma, perhaps from a localised plume, the production rate would be 0.2–1.6 × 10²⁸ molecules per second, about 50–430 kg of methane per second (derived), comparable to the water plumes of [[Enceladus]].[^protopapa2025] ## Satellites and potential rings ### S/2015 (136472) 1 Makemake's only known moon, S/2015 (136472) 1, informally "MK 2", was found by Alex Parker, Marc Buie, Will Grundy and Keith Noll in Hubble Space Telescope images of 27 April 2015 and announced in April 2016.[^parker2016] It is about 1,300 times fainter than Makemake (7.8 magnitudes); if its surface is as dark as charcoal it could be about 175 km across, and a dark moon of that kind would account for part of the system's mid-infrared emission.[^parker2016] Its orbit, circular within the errors, has a period of about 18 days and a radius of about 22,250 km, and is seen nearly edge-on from Earth, which made the moon hard to separate from Makemake and raises the possibility of mutual eclipses.[^bamberger2025] ### Possibility of other satellites No further moons have been found in Hubble images. A second, larger dark moon was considered as an explanation for the mid-infrared excess and for the small light-curve amplitude, but it would have to be implausibly large.[^kiss2024] ### Possibility of rings No ring is known. The 2011 occultation, the best test, showed none, although a narrow ring lying edge-on in Makemake's equatorial plane could have been missed.[^ortiz2012] A ring of dust grains around 100 nm in size could explain the infrared excess, but radiation pressure would destroy it within about a decade unless it were continuously resupplied, for example by eruptions.[^kiss2024] ## Origin Like the other large Kuiper belt bodies, Makemake is thought to have grown from planetesimals in the first few million years of the Solar System, in a region cold enough for methane to condense and be incorporated.[^glein2024] In current models of the giant-planet instability, an extension of the [[Nice_model|Nice model]], Neptune migrated outward within tens of millions of years of the Solar System's formation into a massive disc of planetesimals lying at about 15–30 AU, scattering much of it. The "hot" classical objects, including Makemake, would then have formed closer to the Sun and been emplaced in their present orbits by this scattering, along with the resonant objects and the [[Scattered_disc|scattered disc]].[^desousa2020] A collision with another body may have produced Makemake's moon.[^parker2016] ## Observation and exploration ### Observation With an absolute magnitude of about −0.25, Makemake is intrinsically the third-brightest known trans-Neptunian object after Eris and Pluto, and because it is nearer than Eris, it is the second-brightest in the sky after Pluto, at an apparent magnitude near 17.[^sbdb][^mpc] Its disc, about 38 milliarcseconds wide, cannot be resolved from the ground.[^ortiz2012] It lies in the constellation Coma Berenices.[^horizons] Despite its brightness it was found late, because it lies far from the ecliptic, where earlier surveys concentrated; the earliest image identified afterwards is a Palomar plate of 29 January 1955.[^mpc][^schilling2009] Stellar occultations by Makemake are rare because it lies in a sparse part of the sky and its position is hard to predict precisely. The only one observed so far, on 23 April 2011, lasted about a minute and was recorded by seven telescopes in Brazil and Chile, among them ESO's Very Large Telescope.[^ortiz2012][^eso2012] ### Exploration No spacecraft has visited Makemake. [[NASA]]'s New Horizons observed it from afar in October 2007 and January 2017, from 52 and 70 AU, at phase angles impossible from Earth, which showed how its surface scatters light.[^verbiscer2022] McGranaghan and colleagues calculated that a flyby launched on 24 August 2036 could arrive after just over 16 years using a [[Jupiter]] gravity assist, reaching Makemake at about 52.3 AU from the Sun.[^mcgranaghan2011] Zangari and colleagues found launch windows in the 2030s with a single Jupiter or [[Saturn]] gravity assist and flight times of roughly 12–24 years.[^zangari2019] Its possible ocean and ongoing activity make it an attractive target for a future mission.[^glein2024] ## See also - [[Dwarf_planet]] · [[Classical_Kuiper_belt_object]] - [[Pluto]] · [[Eris_(dwarf_planet)]] · [[Haumea]] - [[Quaoar]] · [[Gonggong_(dwarf_planet)]] - [[Kuiper_belt]] · [[Trans-Neptunian_object]] - [[PORTAL_Solar_System|Solar System portal]] ## Notes Derived numbers are computed from the cited values: the orbital period from Kepler's third law, 45.6^1.5 ≈ 308 years, and the lap time at 100 years/s, about 3 seconds; the diameter ratios 1,430 / 2,377 ≈ 0.60 and 1,430 / 12,742 ≈ 0.11; the system mass M = 4π²a³ / (GT²) with a = 2.225 × 10⁷ m and T = 18.023 days = 1.557 × 10⁶ s, ≈ 2.69 × 10²¹ kg, and with a = 22,250 ± 780 km the range 2.40–2.97 × 10²¹ kg; the ratios 2.69 / 13.03 ≈ 0.21 (Pluto) and 2.69 / 73.46 ≈ 0.037 (Moon); the density 2.69 × 10²¹ kg / (4/3 π × (7.15 × 10⁵ m)³) ≈ 1,750 kg/m³; the surface gravity GM / r² ≈ 0.35 m/s²; the pressure ratio 1.013 bar / 10 pbar ≈ 10¹¹; and the methane loss, (0.2–1.6) × 10²⁸ × 16 × 1.66 × 10⁻²⁷ kg ≈ 53–425 kg/s. ## References ### Citations [^sbdb]: JPL Small-Body Database, "136472 Makemake (2005 FY9)" (orbital elements, absolute magnitude and rotation period fetched 2026-09-18). https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=136472 [^horizons]: JPL Solar System Dynamics. "Horizons" ephemerides for 136472 Makemake, 2005–2186. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/ [^nasa-fs]: NASA NSSDCA. "Planetary Fact Sheet". https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/ (fetched 2026-09-18). [^fs-pluto]: Williams, D. R. "Pluto Fact Sheet". NASA NSSDCA, last updated 11 January 2024. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/plutofact.html [^mpc]: Minor Planet Center. "(136472) Makemake = 2005 FY9". https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=136472 [^brown2013]: Brown, M. E. (2013). "On the size, shape, and density of dwarf planet Makemake". *The Astrophysical Journal Letters* 767: L7. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/767/1/L7 [^brown2010]: Brown, M. E. (2010). *How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming*. Spiegel & Grau, pp. 132–155. ISBN 978-0-385-53108-5. [^schilling2009]: Schilling, G. (2009). *The Hunt for Planet X: New Worlds and the Fate of Pluto*. Springer/Copernicus, pp. 187–211. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-77805-1 [^trujillo2003]: Trujillo, C. A.; Brown, M. E. (2003). "The Caltech Wide Area Sky Survey". *Earth, Moon, and Planets* 92: 99–112. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:MOON.0000031929.19729.a1 [^hecht2005]: Hecht, J. (21 September 2005). "Astronomer denies improper use of web data". *New Scientist*. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8033 [^iau2006]: International Astronomical Union (24 August 2006). "IAU 2006 General Assembly: Resolutions 5 and 6". https://www.iau.org/static/resolutions/Resolution_GA26-5-6.pdf [^iau0806]: International Astronomical Union (19 July 2008). "Fourth dwarf planet named Makemake". News release IAU0806. https://iauarchive.eso.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau0806/ [^unicode2022]: Anderson, D. (4 May 2022). "Out of this world: New astronomy symbols approved for the Unicode Standard". Unicode blog. http://blog.unicode.org/2022/05/out-of-this-world-new-astronomy-symbols.html [^munoz2021]: Muñoz-Gutiérrez, M. A.; Peimbert, A.; Lehner, M. J.; Wang, S.-Y. (2021). "Long-term dynamical stability in the outer Solar System. I. The regular and chaotic evolution of the 34 largest trans-Neptunian objects". *The Astronomical Journal* 162: 164. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ac1102 [^moltenbrey2016]: Moltenbrey, M. (2016). *Dawn of Small Worlds: Dwarf Planets, Asteroids, Comets*. Springer, pp. 212–213. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23003-0 [^desousa2020]: de Sousa Ribeiro, R.; Morbidelli, A.; Raymond, S. N.; et al. (2020). "Dynamical evidence for an early giant planet instability". *Icarus* 339: 113605. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2019.113605 [^ortiz2012]: Ortiz, J. L.; Sicardy, B.; Braga-Ribas, F.; et al. (2012). "Albedo and atmospheric constraints of dwarf planet Makemake from a stellar occultation". *Nature* 491: 566–569. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11597 [^bamberger2025]: Bamberger, D. (2025). "A preliminary orbit for the satellite of dwarf planet (136472) Makemake". arXiv:2509.05880. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.05880 [^hromakina2019]: Hromakina, T. A.; Belskaya, I. N.; Krugly, Yu. N.; et al. (2019). "Long-term photometric monitoring of the dwarf planet (136472) Makemake". *Astronomy & Astrophysics* 625: A46. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201935274 [^kiss2024]: Kiss, C.; Müller, T. G.; Farkas-Takács, A.; et al. (2024). "Prominent mid-infrared excess of the dwarf planet (136472) Makemake discovered by JWST/MIRI indicates ongoing activity". *The Astrophysical Journal Letters* 976: L9. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad8dcb [^parker2016]: Parker, A. H.; Buie, M. W.; Grundy, W. M.; Noll, K. S. (2016). "Discovery of a Makemakean moon". *The Astrophysical Journal Letters* 825: L9. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/825/1/L9 [^licandro2006]: Licandro, J.; Pinilla-Alonso, N.; Pedani, M.; et al. (2006). "The methane ice rich surface of large TNO 2005 FY9: a Pluto-twin in the trans-neptunian belt?". *Astronomy & Astrophysics* 445: L35–L38. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:200500219 [^brown2007]: Brown, M. E.; Barkume, K. M.; Blake, G. A.; et al. (2007). "Methane and ethane on the bright Kuiper belt object 2005 FY9". *The Astronomical Journal* 133: 284–289. https://doi.org/10.1086/509734 [^brown2015]: Brown, M. E.; Schaller, E. L.; Blake, G. A. (2015). "Irradiation products on dwarf planet Makemake". *The Astronomical Journal* 149: 105. https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-6256/149/3/105 [^verbiscer2022]: Verbiscer, A. J.; Helfenstein, P.; Porter, S. B.; et al. (2022). "The diverse shapes of dwarf planet and large KBO phase curves observed from New Horizons". *The Planetary Science Journal* 3: 95. https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ac63a6 [^grundy2024]: Grundy, W. M.; Wong, I.; Glein, C. R.; et al. (2024). "Measurement of D/H and ¹³C/¹²C ratios in methane ice on Eris and Makemake: Evidence for internal activity". *Icarus* 411: 115923. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115923 [^schaller2007]: Schaller, E. L.; Brown, M. E. (2007). "Volatile loss and retention on Kuiper belt objects". *The Astrophysical Journal* 659: L61–L64. https://doi.org/10.1086/516709 [^lorenzi2015]: Lorenzi, V.; Pinilla-Alonso, N.; Licandro, J. (2015). "Rotationally resolved spectroscopy of dwarf planet (136472) Makemake". *Astronomy & Astrophysics* 577: A86. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201425575 [^glein2024]: Glein, C. R.; Grundy, W. M.; Lunine, J. I.; et al. (2024). "Moderate D/H ratios in methane ice on Eris and Makemake as evidence of hydrothermal or metamorphic processes in their interiors: Geochemical analysis". *Icarus* 412: 115999. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2024.115999 [^mousis2025]: Mousis, O.; Werlen, A.; Benest Couzinou, T.; et al. (2025). "Primordial origin of methane on Eris and Makemake supported by D/H ratios". *The Astrophysical Journal Letters* 983: L12. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adc134 [^protopapa2025]: Protopapa, S.; Wong, I.; Lellouch, E.; et al. (2025). "JWST detection of hydrocarbon ices and methane gas on Makemake". *The Astrophysical Journal Letters* 991: L34. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/adfe63 [^eso2012]: European Southern Observatory (21 November 2012). "Dwarf planet Makemake lacks atmosphere". Press release eso1246. https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1246/ [^mcgranaghan2011]: McGranaghan, R.; Sagan, B.; Dove, G.; et al. (2011). "A survey of mission opportunities to trans-Neptunian objects". *Journal of the British Interplanetary Society* 64: 296–303. Bibcode 2011JBIS...64..296M. [^zangari2019]: Zangari, A. M.; Finley, T. J.; Stern, S. A.; Tapley, M. B. (2019). "Return to the Kuiper belt: Launch opportunities from 2025 to 2040". *Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets* 56: 919–930. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.A34329 ### Sources - Brown, M. E. (2010). *How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming*. Spiegel & Grau. - Schilling, G. (2009). *The Hunt for Planet X: New Worlds and the Fate of Pluto*. Springer/Copernicus. ## External links - NASA Science: Makemake. https://science.nasa.gov/dwarf-planets/makemake/ - JPL Small-Body Database: 136472 Makemake. https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=136472 - ESO press release eso1246 on the 2011 occultation. https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1246/ - Minor Planet Center: (136472) Makemake. https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=136472 ## Wikipedia : Wikitube **Strict pair:** [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makemake) : [Wikitube](https://en.wikitube.io/wiki/Makemake) · pinned revision [1373964112](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1373964112) · 2026-09-18 ## Previous hub tags Hubs: `Life_Physics`. Portals: [[PORTAL_Solar_System]]. --- *Solar System portal child articles, wave 1 · 2026-09-18 · drafted · row SOL-071 · explorer state `?obj=Makemake`.*