The latest discovery by Hubble is a shadowy moon orbiting Makemake, which is one of the dwarf planets. After all the research, scientists concluded that this satellite, just like the Earth's, has been orbiting Makemake for billions of years.

Makemake was discovered first in 2005, but its satellite took some time to be spotted. This is because, after Pluto, Makemake is the second brightest icy dwarf planet. Finally, the Hubble telescope discovered a moon orbiting the dwarf planet. The moon has a charcoal black surface and is 1,300 times fainter than the tiny planet that it is orbiting. It has a diameter of 100 miles across, which is almost a fraction of the Earth's moon that measures 2,159.2 miles in diameter.

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For this project, the team of Hubble used the Wide Field Camera 3 of the telescope and the same technique that helped in the discovery of Pluto's satellites in 2005. It had also helped in the discovery of Makemake's companion, 'MK2' in 2012. According to NASA, this tiny satellite can give more information about Makemake (including its density).

Alex Parker from the Southwest Research Institute said that it is crucial to find Makemake's companion as it is from the same class of rare objects like Pluto. He also mentioned that Makemake's satellite discovery has opened doors to new opportunities to study the planet. It will help in studying the planet in more detail than it would be possible without its newly discovered companion.

Astronomers want to study the satellite closely in order to see if it is the warm region on Makemake's surface that is inconsistent with its icy shell. They are also curious about its movements. If its orbit is a tight one, it means it resulted from a collision and if it is wide, then it was captured from the Kuiper belt.