Distant starlight has given astronomers the best look yet at a
distant icy sibling of Pluto, a dwarf planet called Makemake
that appears to be missing its atmosphere, researchers say.
Although this icy world currently lacks an atmosphere, there is
still a chance it could form one like a comet when it approaches
the point in its orbit that is closest to the sun, scientists
added. In the past decade, astronomers have discovered a slew of
"dwarf planets" that dwell with Pluto beyond the orbit of
Neptune. Makemake was a world nicknamed "Easterbunny" by its
discoverers before officially getting named after the Polynesian
creator of humanity and the god of fertility. The dwarf planet's
red-tinged surface is apparently covered by a layer of frozen
methane, and is bright enough to be seen by a high-end amateur
telescope, despite its current distance of nearly 53 times the
distance between the Earth and the sun. [Makemake's Missing
Atmosphere (Video)] Makemake: A plutoid revealed Makemake is a
type of icy dwarf planet