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Solar
Dwarf planet

Makemake

(136472) Makemake

Wikipedia ↗

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
52.735 AU
True anomaly
172.87°
Distance from Earth
53.626 AU
As of
2 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Sun Earth — 1.001 AU from the Sun Earth Makemake — 52.735 AU from the Sun Makemake
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Makemake is 53.626 AU from Earth today (7.4 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
13h 26m 23s
Declination
+19° 47′ 48″
Constellation
Coma Berenices
Distance from Earth
53.63 AU
Elongation from the Sun
26.69° — near the Sun — look low at dusk or dawn

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it's up after dark, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
45.571 AU
Eccentricity
0.1589
Inclination
29.03°
Orbital period
307.6 years
Perihelion
38.33 AU
Aphelion
52.812 AU
Longitude of ascending node
79.29°
Argument of periapsis
297.09°
Epoch · J2000
2461200.5
Orbit class · TNO
Trans-Neptunian object
Earth MOID · 14,567.2 LD
37.4313 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
5.224

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
6,348
Data arc
71.18 years
First observed
29 January 1955
Last observed
5 April 2026
Residual RMS
0.23 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
6 June 2026

Physical properties

Mean radius
715 km
Mass
3.1 × 10²¹ kg
Density
2.1 g/cm³
Rotation period
22.83 hours

Visual & observation

Geometric albedo
0.82
Absolute magnitude (H)
-0.12
Representative colour
#B57F5B

Discovery & classification

Discovered by
Brown, M. E., Trujillo, C. A., Rabinowitz, D. L.
Discovery date
31 March 2005
Discovery site
Palomar

Makemake is the creator of humanity and the god of fertility in the mythology of the South Pacific island of Rapa Nui, or Easter Island. He was the chief god of the Tangata manu bird-man cult and was worshiped in the form of sea birds, which were his incarnation. His material symbol was a man with a bird's head.

Also known as 136472 · 2005 FY9 · 136472 Makemake (2005 FY9)

Named TNO

1 moons

MK2 88 km — — — 12.4 days

Sources