NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a dark moon orbiting the dwarf planet Makemake.

Celebrated as the second brightest icy dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt after Pluto, Makemake was uncovered in 2005 and, since then, researchers have frantically searched for a companion planet orbiting the frigid outer area.

New Moon Discovery Known as MK 2

The tiny moon most recently discovered is known as MK 2 and is described as 1,300 fainter than Makemake, which is nearly 900 miles across. MK 2 is estimated to be 13,000 miles away from the dwarf planet.

MK 2, however, is the first discovery of a Makemake companion, which is just one of five dwarf planets formally recognized by the International Astronomical Union.

The Kuiper Belt is described as a "vast reservoir of leftover frozen material" left over from the construction of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. It is also home to several dwarf planets, some of which have known satellites.

The new findings were uncovered with the Hubble Wide Field Camera 3 in April of last year. Hubble's unmatched ability at detecting faint objects near bright ones was enough to allow astronomers to distinguish the moon from Makemake's glare.

The discovery was formally revealed in a recent Minor Planet Electronic circular. Researchers also noted they used the same Hubble technique to observe the moon as they did for finding the small satellites of Pluto in 2005, 2011, and 2012.

Previous searches for such discoveries had come up empty.

"Our preliminary estimates show that the moon's orbit seems to be edge-on, and that means that often when you look at the system you are going to miss the moon because it gets lost in the bright glare of Makemake," said Alex Parker of Southwest Research Institute, who led the image analysis for the observations.

The discovery of a moon can aid scientist in calculating a system's mass as well as reveal insight about its evolution.

"Makemake is in the class of rare Pluto-like objects, so finding a companion is important," Parker said. "The discovery of this moon has given us an opportunity to study Makemake in far greater detail than we ever would have been able to without the companion."

Researchers Hoping for More Hubble Observations

Researchers are now focusing on gaining more Hubble observations, hoping such discoveries will provide more accurate measurements in an effort to determine if the moon's orbit is elliptical or circular.

Such answers will go a long way in finally settling the debate of the moon's origin. The findings have already started to provide more intel about Makemake, namely why some areas of its otherwise frigid surface seem warmer than others.

Analysis by the team suggests that much of the warmer surface detected previously in infrared light may have simply been the dark surface of the companion MK 2.

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