Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Makemake of the Outer Solar System

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for December 26, 2012 is “Makemake of the Outer Solar System,” an image. It is credited to Illustration Credit: European Southern Observatory. The original explanation runs about 192 words.

Makemake of the Outer Solar System
Credit: Illustration Credit: European Southern Observatory Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Makemake is one of the largest objects known in the outer Solar System. Pronounced MAH-kay MAH-kay , this Kuiper belt object is about two-thirds the size of Pluto, orbits the Sun only slightly further out than Pluto , and appears only slightly dimmer than Pluto.”

— APOD editors, December 26, 2012

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
December 26, 2012
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Illustration Credit: European Southern Observatory
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 192 words

All of December 2012 → · 2012 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

The Sun

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: December 26 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.