Makemake

·         On July 19, 2008 the International Astronomical Union designated a dwarf planet orbiting beyond Neptune as the third plutoid in the solar system and given the name Makemake (red methane-covered dwarf planet, formerly known as 2005 FY9 or "Easterbunny") is named after a Polynesian creator of humanity and god of fertility.

·         Just last month the astronomical union, which names planets and other heavenly bodies, decided to create a class of subplanets called plutoids. Pluto, demoted from planet status, and Eris are the other two plutoids. 

·         Makemake is slightly smaller and dimmer than Pluto and was discovered in 2005.

Mission IAS’2009

·         The orbit is not particularly strange, but the object itself is big, probably about two-thirds the size of Pluto," said Mr Michael E. Brown of the California Institute of Technology, who discovered and named Makemake (pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh).

·          Dr. Brown said the name came to him when he was looking for a mythological god and thought of Easter Island in the South Pacific.

·         Makemake was the chief god among people who settled the island. This is a rare discovery in space research.

·         Pluto, formally designated (134340) Pluto, is the second-largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System (after Eris) and the tenth-largest body observed directly orbiting the Sun. Originally classified as a planet,

·         From its discovery in 1930 until 2006, Pluto was counted as the Solar System's ninth planet. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, however, many objects similar to Pluto were discovered in the outer solar system, notably the scattered disc object