Makemake

Artist rendition of the dwarf planet Makemake, credited to the European Southern Observatory.  Makemake is one of the icy planets on the Kuiper belt beyond Neptune.  Featured on NASA’s December 26th, 2012’s APOD.

Originally designated 2005 FY9, Makemake (pronounced mah-kee-mah-kee) is named after the god of fertility in Rapanui mythology. The Rapanui are the native people of Easter Island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean about 3,600 km off the coast of Chile. 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.

“I am partial to fertility gods; Eris, Makemake, and (Haumea) were all discovered as my wife was pregnant with our daughter. I have the distinct memory of feeling this fertile abundance pouring out of the entire universe. Makemake was part of that.” [Mike Brown, member of the planet’s discovery team]

NASA launched the space probe New Horizons on Jan. 19, 2006 on a mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt.  New Horizons is expected to reach Pluto in July 2015.