Dwarf Planet Makemake Observations Show It Lacks Atmosphere

Astronomers get their best view of the dwarf planet Makemake, concluding it has no significant atmosphere unlike Pluto.

Astronomers were able to study the planet Makemake's characteristics using the most powerful telescopes at the European Southern Observatory in Chile when the dwarf planet passed in front of a distant star and the change in light was abrupt than it being dimmed slowly and then brightened, says a report published in National Geographic news.

"As Makemake passed in front of the star and blocked it out, the star disappeared and reappeared very abruptly, rather than fading and brightening gradually. This means that the little dwarf planet has no significant atmosphere. It was thought that Makemake had a good chance of having developed an atmosphere - that it has no sign of one at all shows just how much we have yet to learn about these mysterious bodies.," says team leader Jose Luis Ortiz from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia in Spain, according to a report in Latinos Post.

The observations, however, helped the scientists to find out Makemake's size and study the surface more accurately. The size of Makemake is known to be about two-third the size of Pluto, and a density of 1.7 grams per cubic centimeter approximately, says a report in BBC news.

"We think Makemake is a sphere flattened slightly at both poles and mostly covered with very white ices-mainly of methane," said Ortiz."But there are also indications for some organic material at least at some places; this material is usually very red and we think in a small percentage of the surface, the terrain is quite dark."

Although these observations were made, but it still continues to be a mystery why Makemake lacks a global atmosphere. But Ortiz had a theory to define the absence of the atmosphere around the dwarf planet.

Pluto's surface as it is covered with nitrogen ice, it is evaporated forming an atmosphere when sun heats this material up. But since Makemake lacks nitrogen ice on its surface, it is not very likely for the sun to heat it up and form an atmosphere. Makemake is covered with methane ice which can form in to gas if heated but due to its distance from the sun, methane is still in a frozen state, says Ortiz in a report in National Geographic news.