Welcome to the Solar System, Makemake (TPS) |
Welcome to the Solar System, Makemake (TPS) |
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 239 Joined: 18-December 07 From: New York Member No.: 3982 ![]() |
(I wasn't sure where to put this so I figured if I posed it here it would eventually get transferred to the appropriate forum)
http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001553/ By Emily Lakdawalla Actually, Makemake has (probably) been in the solar system for billions of years, long before there were ever humans around who cared about how to name them. But there are humans now, and we care a lot about names, so it's a great relief that the trans-Neptunian object formerly known as 2005 FY9 now has a name: "Makemake." Makemake is the creator of humanity and god of fertility in the mythology of the South Pacific island of Rapa Nui, known to most speakers of English as Easter Island. In the three years since its discovery, its discoverers (Brown, Trujillo, and Rabinowitz) have been referring to it as "Easterbunny" (it was discovered shortly after Easter) so the official name pays cute homage to that. "Makemake" is pronounced phonetically, if you speak Spanish or Italian, or, to transliterate it for English speakers, "MAH-kay-MAH-kay." Makemake is the next brightest object in the Kuiper belt after Pluto, bright enough for astronomers to be confident that it's big enough (approximately 1,600 kilometers, roughly the same size as Saturn's second largest moon, Rhea) to become spherical under the force of its own gravity (in scientific parlance, it has likely achieved hydrostatic equilibrium). Now that it has a name, Makemake is therefore the fourth dwarf planet in the solar system, according to this page on the United States Geological Survey's Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature (the others being Ceres, Pluto, and Eris). I've updated our "Notable Trans-Neptunian objects" page to reflect the new name. |
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#2
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Moderator Posts: 3233 Joined: 11-February 04 From: Tucson, AZ Member No.: 23 ![]() |
Done and done. Moved topic to Pluto/KBO.
Odd name, but I do like that Brown isn't just picking a random name. For EL61, perhaps he can work in the fact that it is an oblong body? -------------------- &@^^!% Jim! I'm a geologist, not a physicist!
The Gish Bar Times - A Blog all about Jupiter's Moon Io |
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#3
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 ![]() |
For EL61, perhaps he can work in the fact that it is an oblong body? Well, there is a small town in central Illinois named Oblong, maybe that could be part of his inspiration... ![]() In point of fact, I was born in Normal, Illinois, which isn't all that far from the much smaller Oblong. One day, the local paper, the Daily Pantagraph, ran in its social pages a wedding announcement with the headline "Normal Man Marries Oblong Woman." I kid you not... ![]() -the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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