How Makemake helped demote Pluto
The 2005 discovery race, a leaked observing log, and the IAU vote that created the dwarf planet category.
Published 2026-10-23
In the early 2000s, Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo and David Rabinowitz were systematically imaging the sky with a wide-field CCD camera on Palomar Observatory's 1.22-meter Samuel Oschin telescope, hunting for large bodies beyond Neptune. Their search began in 2001.[3]
Spotted just after Easter
The discovery images of the object we now call Makemake were taken on March 31, 2005. Brown found it in the data on April 3 and noticed it was unusually bright. Because the find came days after Easter, the team nicknamed it “Easterbunny”; its provisional designation became 2005 FY9.[3][1]
A rushed announcement
Months earlier the same team had found Haumea and Eris, and they planned to announce Makemake after Eris. That plan changed when a Spanish team announced Haumea on July 27, 2005. Brown realized his team's observing logs, containing the positions of all three objects, had been unintentionally public and accessed from that institution. To avoid being scooped again, he contacted the Minor Planet Center, and Eris and Makemake were announced on July 29, 2005.[3]
From “tenth planet” to dwarf planet
The arrival of several Pluto-class worlds made the question unavoidable: if Pluto is a planet, why not these? In August 2006 the International Astronomical Union adopted a formal definition of a planet. Pluto, which had not cleared its orbital neighbourhood, was reclassified as a dwarf planet — and NASA notes that Makemake, along with Eris, was one of the discoveries that prompted the change.[1][3]
Choosing a name
Brown wanted to keep the Easter connection. The IAU's rule for classical Kuiper belt objects calls for names of creation deities, and the team settled on Makemake, the creator of humanity and god of fertility of the Rapa Nui people of Easter Island. The IAU approved the name in July 2008, making Makemake the fourth officially recognized dwarf planet after Ceres, Pluto and Eris.[3]
Want to explore the sky yourself? Our telescope picker suggests beginner-friendly gear for your budget.
Numbered citations link to the sources list on the Makemake overview page.