A Galactic Debut

Calm has been restored to the outer-solar system following a row over what to call a dwarf planet and exactly how it should be characterised.

The red-speckled bright object that hovers near Pluto was initially nicknamed Easterbunny because it was discovered shortly after Easter in 2005.

Galactic unrest erupted in the ranks of the International Astronomical Union over what the official name should be.

And after much debate, the name Makemake has been decided on as a tribute to the Polynesian god of fertility and creator of humanity.

As for its status, the newly-named planet which is coated in red methane is now officially a plutoid.

Pluto, which made headlines last year as it was demoted from its planet status, and Eris are the other two plutoids. A fourth dwarf planet named Ceres has been excluded from the plutoid club because it orbits in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Makemake has a diameter of roughly 1,000 miles and is quite bright given its distance from the Sun.

Despite this, it was not discovered until recently, well after many much fainter objects in its region of the solar system.

Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology, who discovered the dwarf planet and suggested its name, discussed the trouble he had naming the planet in his blog.

"Three years is a long time to have only a license plate number instead of a name, so for most of the time, we simply referred to this object as 'Easterbunny' in honor of the fact that it was discovered just a few days past Easter in 2005," he writes.

He discusses the trouble the team had finding a name, until they considered the island Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island, and its mythology.

"I wasn't familiar with the mythology of the island so I had to look it up, and I found Make-make, the chief god, the creator of humanity, and the god of fertility.

"I am partial to fertility gods for things I discovered around that time. Eris, Makemake, and 2003 EL61 were all discovered as my wife was three to six months pregnant with our daughter."

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