News in Brief Planetary Science

Tiny moon orbits dwarf planet

dwarf planet Makemake and newly discovered moon

A 2015 image from the Hubble Space Telescope reveals a faint moon orbiting the dwarf planet Makemake.

NASA, ESA, A. Parker and M. Buie/SWRI

By Christopher Crockett

- More than 2 years ago

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).