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Back SPIRE image of the dwarf planet Makemake

SPIRE image of the dwarf planet Makemake


Date: 21 December 2009
Satellite: Herschel
Depicts: Dwarf planet Makemake
Copyright: ESA and the SPIRE consortium; T. Mueller for the 'TNOs are cool' Key Programme consortium

The dwarf planet Makemake was observed by SPIRE during the science demonstration phase. This very faint and cold object was detected by making a difference image: by taking images 44 hours apart and subtracting the "before" image from the "after" image, the background sky is removed. Makemake, having moved in the intervening time, appears twice in the resulting image: once as a "negative image" and again as a "positive image".
Last Update: 1 September 2019
17-Feb-2026 09:14 UT

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