BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Makemake has a moon

Pluto, Eris and Haumea are dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt and beyond. So is Makemake. But the first three were known to have moons, with Makemake being the odd one out. But Makemake does have a moon and here it is.

A moon, even one so elusive as MK2, is good news for astronomers. If they can follow the orbit of the moon, they can work out the mass of the dwarf planet.

You can read more about the five dwarf planets listed by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), including Makemake.

By the way, the dwarf planet's name is pronounced MAH-kay-MAH-kay, not make-make. It was named for a fertility god of the Rapa Nui mythology of Easter Island.

Dwarf Planets - a Tour

Makemake [MAH-kay MAH-kay], second brightest dwarf planet of the Kuiper belt, has a moon nicknamed MK2. The moon reflects sunlight with a charcoal-dark surface, about 1,300 times fainter than Makemake. But Hubble Space Telescope observations managed to spot it. Further observations of Makemake and its orbiting moon will measure the system's mass and density. About 160 km (100 mi) across compared to Makemake's 1,400 km diameter, MK2's relative size and contrast are shown in this artist's vision.

This imagined scene looks back from a spacecraft's vantage as the dim Sun shines along the Milky Way. The Sun is over 50 times farther from Makemake than it is from planet Earth.

Illustration Credit: Alex H. Parker (Southwest Research Institute)

Here are pictures of the 8 biggest TNOs. These are the trans-Neptunian objects, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune.