Astronomers have used three telescopes at ESO's observatories in Chile to observe the dwarf planet Makemake as it drifted in front of a distant star and blocked its light. The new observations have allowed them to check for the first time whether Makemake is surrounded by an atmosphere. This chilly world has an orbit lying in the outer Solar System and was expected to have an atmosphere like Pluto, but this is now shown not to be the case. The scientists also measured Makemake's density for the first time. The new results are to be published in the 22 November issue of the journal Nature. Read more
Astronomers have obtained an important first look at the dwarf planet Makemake - finding it has no atmosphere. One of five such dwarfs in our Solar System including former planet Pluto, Makemake had until now eluded study. But in April 2011, it passed between the Earth and a distant star, and astronomers used seven telescopes to study how the star's light was changed. A report in Nature outlines how they unpicked Makemake's size, lack of atmosphere, and even its density Read more
Makemake, formally designated (136472) Makemake was discovered on the 31st March, 2005, by a team led by Michael Brown, and announced on the 29th July, 2005.