Tiny moon orbits dwarf planet

In the backwaters of the solar system lies the dwarf planet Makemake. The tiny world has an even tinier moon, NASA announced April 26. The moon was spotted in Hubble Space Telescope images as a smudge orbiting Makemake (shown above, arrow points to moon).

Researchers estimate that the moon, temporarily dubbed S/2015 (136472) 1, is about 160 kilometers wide; its home world is about 1,400 kilometers across. The satellite appears to trek around Makemake once every 12 days or more. The moon’s motion can help researchers determine the mass of Makemake, one of the largest known bodies in the Kuiper belt.