S/2015 (136472) 1, nicknamed MK 2, is the only known moon of the dwarf planet Makemake, which orbits in the Kuiper belt beyond Neptune. It was found in images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2015, and its discovery was announced the following year. The moon is dark and probably about 160 kilometres across, much fainter than Makemake itself, which is why it had gone unseen in earlier searches. Its orbit allows astronomers to estimate the mass of Makemake, and its darkness is a puzzle, since Makemake is bright and icy.
Before and after
- 24 March 2015Germanwings Flight 9525
- 13 April 2015Death of Günter Grass
- 24 April 2015Creation of watchOS
- 25 April 2015April 2015 Nepal earthquake
- 27 April 2015Discovery of S/2015 (136472) 1
- 7 May 20152015 United Kingdom general election
- 13 May 2015Release of Discord
- 28 May 2015Creation of Google Photos
- 7 June 2015Death of Christopher Lee
More in Universe & space
- 1 May 1949Discovery of Nereid
- 5 September 1977Launch of Voyager 1
- 5 March 1979Discovery of Thebe
- 8 July 1979Discovery of Adrastea
- 16 June 1989Discovery of Proteus
- 15 May 2005Discovery of Nix
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 21st century.