Makemake

Here's an animation of Makemake, from last Saturday and Sunday nights (March 7, 02:00 & 23:00UT) on the 20" scope. It appears surprisingly bright for an 16.8 magnitude object. Conditions were dark and transparent both nights and I was at quite a high altitude. This little heavenly body was surprisingly easy to find after having imaged Eris (see earlier post) as it lies close to the top dot-to-dot line of Coma Berenices. Makemake, which I believe is pronounced mak-eh-mak-eh, is a large minor planet over 50 A.U. from the sun, which puts it beyond Pluto's orbit, but nowhere near as far out as Eris. I acquired 29 x 30" images the first night, then another 11 the following night, when it was darker and clearer still. -- Hit play to reload the video as it's not set to repeat...and apologies for not adjusting the brightness.