"This is the right way to measure sizes," says Brown, who also co-discovered Eris in 2005. (That same year, Brown clashed with Ortiz over the discovery of Haumea, alleging that the Spanish researchers had improperly accessed his observing records to scoop the Americans and claim credit for the find.)

The new look at Makemake found that the dwarf planet is 1,430 kilometers across if it is spherical and 1,430 kilometers by 1,502 kilometers if it is elliptical. The study’s authors favor the latter possibility, but Brown disagrees. "Even that small bit of not round is really strange," he says, adding that Makemake would have to be rotating rapidly or composed of low-density material to become so oblate. "I’m fairly certain that that's just wrong," he adds.

All the same, Brown is pleased to see Makemake in the spotlight. Its discovery was initially overshadowed by that of Eris, which outweighs Pluto and was originally trumpeted as the 10th planet in the solar system. "Makemake has always been sort of the unloved large Kuiper belt object," he says. "We were so swamped with Eris and all the interesting stuff with Haumea that people didn't really give Makemake the attention it deserved."

6 Comments

1. 1. littleredtop 03:57 PM 11/21/12

   What good is all of this knowledge and speculation if we aren't going there? If Earth's civilized population doesn't get serious about space travel pretty soon it may be too late. In light of current world-wide political and economic issues, now might be the best time to depart this cesspool.

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2. 2. tharriss 06:05 PM 11/21/12

   Well, consider that there were thousands of years of human history where a grandchild's life would pretty much be exactly like his grandparent's life was, and now we are in situation where kids are experiencing totally different levels of technology than their parents did, and the pace is increasing pretty rapidly.
   
   While it might not be happening in the order or pace we might like for some things like space travel, massive technological/scientific change is coming, and coming fast.
   
   What seems like "we aren't going there" to you now, will probably be "hoh hum, been there, done that" to our kids.

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3. 3. paulsophie1 in reply to littleredtop 06:56 PM 11/21/12

   Or we can always move to Russia
   http://bit.ly/RV0F1s

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4. 4. neilrued in reply to littleredtop 01:42 AM 11/22/12

   Google orbital mechanics related to Makemake, Eris and Humea.
   
   Take a look at:
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons
   
   Pluto and its three known moons are closer than Makemake, Eris and Humea. New Horizons was launched in 2009 and won't fly-by past Pluto until 2015.
   
   I would not expect Makemake, Eris or Humea to be within maneuvering range of these dwarf planets.
   
   NASA was lucky Congress approved funding for New Horizons. Makemake, Eris or Humea may not be explored within our lifetimes because Congress is looking at slashing NASA's shoe string budget further.
   
   Running away doesn't solve any problems. The rich caused the current Global Financial Crisis due to their unbridled greed, so it's their responsibility to fix it.

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5. 5. pabelmont 05:57 PM 11/24/12

   littleredtop : What is this concern for space travel all about anyhow? Should the human race (or its scientists) stop worrying about global warming (and the likely end of things as we know them) is favor of the craziness of looking into space travel (so as to establish "civilization" on some innocent planet and to escape from the hell we so industriously produced here on earth?
   
   Why SHOULD human life or much of Earth's terrestrial life be preserved (if that's what would happen) on another and very different planet, supposing the energy (etc) needed for all that space travel? Why should even a Noah's Ark sort of space travel be organized? for what benefit, and to whom?
   
   Better for us all to get VERY BUSY with trying to reap a different crop from what we've (environmentally) sown.

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6. 6. littleredtop in reply to pabelmont 01:26 PM 11/25/12

   Global warming is a natural occurrence that has been going on since the end of the last ice age and the process will only end when Earth's temperature returns to an appropriate level. The political and scientific movement called "Global Warming" is only a "smoke and mirrors" initiative to take your money.

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