July 23, 2008
Plutoids
Pluto was downgraded from a planet to a plutoid not long ago and now the third such object has been named Makemake (pronounced MAH-keh MAH-keh).
Pluto, Makemake and a third object — dubbed Eris — are all classified as plutoids, as well as dwarf planets. The solar system’s largest asteroid Ceres is also a dwarf planet, but not in the plutoid class because its orbit, which falls in the belt of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter, is smaller than that of the more distant Neptune.
Originally designated 2005 FY9, the object was nicknamed “Easterbunny” by its discoverers before officially being named Makemake after the Polynesian creator of humanity and the god of fertility, the IAU said.
“We consider the naming of objects in the solar system very carefully,” said Brown.
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