Newest "Dwarf" Planet Named.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named its first new dwarf planet since its extremely controversial decision to demote Pluto. The new dwarf planet Makemake was discovered March 31, 2005 M.E. Brown, C.A. Trujillo, and D.Rabinowitz. The dwarf planet was named after Make-make, the creator of humanity in the Easter Island mythology.

Makemake (pronounced "maki-maki") is now the fourth dwarf planet (after Pluto, Ceres, and Eris). Little is known definitively about Makemake, but the prescience of methane suggests similarities with Pluto and Eris. Will Sedna be next?

Of course with the definition of "planet" and "dwarf planet" being so controversial, this might end up being the official naming of the twelfth planet.

<Universe Today article>

<Mike (M. E.) Brown's planet's blog with many recent entries on dwarf planets and Makemake>

'Plutoid' Chosen As Name For Dwarf Planets Like Pluto

Almost two years after the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly introduced the category of dwarf planets,The IAU has decided on the term plutoid as a name for dwarf planets like Pluto. This category is for solar system objects called trans-neptunian which are celestial bodies in orbit around the Sun at a distance greater than that of Neptune that have sufficient mass for their self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that they assume a hydrostatic equilibrium (near-spherical) shape, and that have not cleared the neighbourhood around their orbit. The two known and named plutoids are Pluto and Eris. The dwarf planet Ceres is not a plutoid as it is located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.