NASA, ESA, and A. Parker and M. Buie (Southwest Research Institute), CC BY 4.0

Makemake

Dwarf planet · Dwarf planet

A bright, reddish Kuiper belt world with a surprising hint of warmth

Overview

Makemake is a dwarf planet orbiting the Sun in the Kuiper belt, a disc of icy bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the fourth largest dwarf planet and trans-Neptunian object in the Solar System, having a diameter 60% that of Pluto. It was discovered on March 31, 2005, by American astronomers Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David Rabinowitz at Palomar Observatory. As one of the largest outer Solar System objects found by this team, the discovery of Makemake contributed to the reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet in 2006.

Source: Wikipedia

Why it matters

The second-brightest Kuiper belt object after Pluto, discovered in 2005 and named for the Rapa Nui creator god.
Covered in methane, ethane and tholins; it lacks the substantial atmosphere once expected.
JWST observations in 2025 suggested an unexpectedly warm spot or a thin gas component — hints of geological activity.

System

Discovered: 2005 · direct observation
Discoverers: Brown, M. E., Trujillo, C. A., Rabinowitz, D.
Star: Sun · G2 V · 5,772 K · 1 M☉
System: 8 known planets
Siblings: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Haumea, Eris, Sedna

Orbit in the Solar System

World	Period	Distance	Radius	Mass	Temp.
Mercury	88 d	0.387 AU	0.38 R⊕	0.055 M⊕	440 K
Venus	224.7 d	0.723 AU	0.95 R⊕	0.82 M⊕	737 K
Earth	365.2 d	1 AU	1 R⊕	1 M⊕	288 K
Mars	687 d	1.52 AU	0.53 R⊕	0.11 M⊕	208 K
Ceres	4.6 yr	2.77 AU	0.07 R⊕	0.94 ×10²¹ kg	—
Jupiter	11.9 yr	5.2 AU	1 R♃	1 M♃	163 K
Saturn	29.4 yr	9.57 AU	0.84 R♃	95.11 M⊕	133 K
Uranus	83.7 yr	19.16 AU	0.36 R♃	14.53 M⊕	78 K
Neptune	163.7 yr	30.18 AU	3.88 R⊕	17.08 M⊕	73 K
Pluto	247.9 yr	39.48 AU	0.19 R⊕	13 ×10²¹ kg	48 K
Haumea	282 yr	43.1 AU	0.12 R⊕	—	50 K
Makemake	306.6 yr	45.6 AU	0.11 R⊕	3.1 ×10²¹ kg	—
Eris	561.3 yr	67.9 AU	0.18 R⊕	17 ×10²¹ kg	43 K
Sedna	12,676.2 yr	544 AU	0.08 R⊕	—	12 K

this worldhabitable zone 0.95 AU – 1.67 AUlog distance scaleorbital phases are arbitrarydashed = dwarf planets

By the numbers

Radius: 0.11 R⊕717 km
Mass: 3.1 ×10²¹ kg0 ×10²⁴ kg
Orbital period: 306.6 yr
Distance from Sun: 45.6 AU6,822 million km
Eccentricity: 0.159elliptical

Sources

Wikipedia JPL Small-Body Database Wikidata

Image: NASA, ESA, and A. Parker and M. Buie (Southwest Research Institute), CC BY 4.0 · CC BY 4.0 · image page

Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Taglines and highlights are editorial.