A fourth dwarf planet has been named by the international Astronomical Union: Makemake, formerly known as 2005 FY9.
It sounds like something you could order at a sushi bar.
That’s still better than 2005 FY9, which reads like the license plate of the guy who cut us off on the freeway last night.
Oh, great, Makemake’s going to get made fun of by all the other dwarf planets. And Pluto’s going to pick on her (him?) because he’s still mad about getting stuck at the kid’s table.
I hope those astronomers are happy now.
The recently discovered Sedna I find is a much more interesting recent discovery. Thought to be an inner Oort cloud object, this thing has an orbital period of 10.5-12,000 years with an aphelion of 975 AU and a perihelion of 76.16 AU, the latter of which it is expected to reach in 2075. That makes it the longest-period observable trans-neptunian currently object orbiting the sun.
Plus, it sounds cooler than Makemake. 
I’m pleased that they have discovered a new dwarf planet, although I’m not sure about the name.
From the article quoted by Sunspace:
Why does the radius of the orbit matter? Isn’t the definition based upon size?
Ceres is a dwarf planet, but not a plutoid so the definition of “plutoid” must include distance.
yep
Brian
“Easterbunny”? They should have just gone with that!