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Makemake

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DWARF PLANET

Makemake

A frozen methane world in the outer Kuiper Belt with a tiny dark moon.

Orbits Sun 1 moons
  • Third-largest known KBO by volume.
  • Surface dominated by methane, ethane and nitrogen ices.
  • A small moon, provisionally designated MK2 / S/2015 (136472) 1, discovered in 2016.

Physical Properties

715 km
3.1e21 kg
2.1 g/cm³
22.8266 h
0.82
34 K

Orbit

Sun
45.6 AU
0.157
28.98°
306.17 yr

Notable Moons

MK2
Moon

Sources & Further Reading

Numerical values (radius, mass, orbital elements, temperatures) are drawn from NASA NSSDC Planetary Fact Sheets, JPL Horizons, and the JPL Small-Body Database. Last refreshed: 2026-04-18 18:19:26.

Makemake is the third-largest known trans-Neptunian dwarf planet (after Pluto and Eris). Its surface is red-hued and dominated by methane and ethane ices, suggesting continuing photochemistry. A small dark moon provisionally designated MK2 was discovered in Hubble imagery in 2016.