1,430 km
ESTIMATED DIAMETER
~309 YEARS
ORBITAL PERIOD
~45.8 AU
AVERAGE DISTANCE FROM SUN
2005
DISCOVERED
DWARF PLANET
CLASSIFICATION
MK2
KNOWN MOON
THE FROZEN WORLD
Makemake is a dwarf planet located in
the Kuiper Belt beyond the orbit of Neptune.
It was discovered in 2005 and is one of
the largest known objects in the outer
Solar System.
Makemake has a reddish-brown surface
covered with frozen materials, including
methane and nitrogen ices.
The dwarf planet is extremely cold and
takes more than three centuries to
complete one orbit around the Sun.
Makemake also has a small known moon,
officially designated S/2015 (136472) 1
and commonly nicknamed MK2.
MAKEMAKE'S MOON
MK2
MK2 is the small moon of Makemake.
It was discovered in 2016 from
observations made with the Hubble
Space Telescope.
Its official designation is
S/2015 (136472) 1.
MK2 is much darker than Makemake
and is estimated to be roughly
175 km across.
MAKEMAKE FEATURES
KUIPER BELT
Makemake orbits in the Kuiper Belt,
a distant region filled with icy
bodies beyond Neptune.
FROZEN SURFACE
Its surface contains frozen volatile
ices, giving Makemake its distinctive
reddish appearance.
SMALL MOON
Makemake has one known satellite,
MK2, which was discovered using
the Hubble Space Telescope.
DID YOU KNOW?
Makemake takes about
309 Earth years
to complete one orbit around
the Sun.
ORBONIX · DWARF PLANETS
MAKEMAKE · KUIPER BELT
MAKEMAKE · KUIPER BELT