Download New Planet Nine AOW

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Article of the Week
Directions: Read the following article carefully and annotate. You need to include at least 1 annotation
per paragraph. Be sure to include all of the following in your total annotations.
Annotation = Marking the Text + A Note of Explanation
1. Great Idea or Point – Write why you think it is a good idea or point – !
2. Confusing Point or Idea – Write a question to ask that might help you understand – ?
3. Unknown Word or Phrase – Circle the unknown word or phrase, then write what you think it might mean
based on context clues or your word knowledge –
4. A Question You Have – Write a question you have about something in the text – ??
5. Summary – In a few sentences, write a summary of the paragraph, section, or passage – #
"Planet Nine": Have astronomers found a huge
new world past Pluto?
By Scientific American, adapted by Newsela staff
01.25.16
Picture and Caption
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Paragraph #1
This picture is an artist’s depiction of what "Planet Nine" might look like. The planet is
thought to be gaseous, similar to Uranus and Neptune, and in our solar system out
beyond Pluto. Photo: Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)
Para #1 In the last 20 years, astronomers have identified about
2,000 new worlds using a telescope in space. These planets
orbit stars that lie tens or even hundreds of light-years from Earth.
These discoveries are important, but no single planet is likely to
be much of a big deal. The new planet is a very different story. It
does not circle a distant star. Instead, it is part of our own solar
system, a place you would think we had explored pretty well by
now.
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Paragraph #2
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Para #2
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Evidently not. In a new study, California Institute of Technology
planetary scientists Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown say they ___________________________
found strong evidence of a very large undiscovered planet. They
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say the new planet is orbiting in the solar system’s outer darkness
beyond Pluto.
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Space Orbit Oddities
Paragraph #3
Para #3 This new planet could perhaps be 10 times as massive
as Earth. The scientists think it is out there because they have
detected oddities in the orbits of space objects nearby. The
scientists say they could only be caused by the gravity of a
massive planet. The study will be published in The Astronomical
Journal, a magazine for scientists.
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Para #4 “I haven’t been this excited about something in quite a
while,” says Greg Laughlin. He is a planetary scientist at the
University of California, Santa Cruz. For the time being, the
researchers have named it “Planet Nine.” The new planet never
comes closer than 30.5 billion or so kilometers (19 billion miles)
from the sun. Despite its enormous size, if it exists, it would be so
dim that it is not surprising that it has not been spotted it yet.
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Para #5 “Sadly,” Brown says, the scientists haven't actually
detected it yet. Still, the evidence is strong enough that other
experts are taking it seriously. “I think it’s pretty convincing,” says
Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii.
Paragraph #4
Para #6 Batygin and Brown are not the first to argue for an extra
planet in our solar system. In 2014, Trujillo and Scott Sheppard,
of the Carnegie Institution for Science, argued that there might be
something planet-sized out there. The theory was based on the
orbits of a handful of space objects. They seemed to be affected
by the gravity of an unseen world.
What was the central idea of paragraphs 3-6?
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Paragraph #5
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Paragraph #6
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Paragraph #7
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A "Crazy" Notion ...
Para #7 The first thing Batygin and Brown did, Batygin says, was
to look at their data with fresh eyes. "This was a case where we
had our noses buried in the data," Brown says, "never stepping
back and looking at the solar system from above."
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Paragraph #8
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Para #8 The direction of the orbits was an even stronger hint that
something was physically moving these distant objects. “At first,”
Brown says, “we said there can’t be a planet out there — that’s
crazy.” However, the only explanation that fit the data was the
“crazy” notion of a planet.
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Para #9 The planet that best fits the data would be 10 times as
massive as Earth. It would put the new planet in the so-called
“Super Earth” category. It includes many planets around other
stars but none, until now, in our own solar system. The new
planet would be smaller than Neptune, which is about 17 times
larger than Earth. The new planet comes within 19 billion miles
(35 billion kilometers) of the sun at its closest. At its most distant,
it would be between three and six times as far away.
Paragraph #9
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Para #10 Even at that enormous distance, Planet Nine might be
seen with a telescope. Until then, astronomers cannot say
definitely that Planet Nine is actually out there. “I tend to be very
suspicious of claims of an extra planet in the solar system,” says
Hal Levison. He is a scientist with the Southwest Research
Institute in Boulder, Colorado. The question needs to be further
explored, he adds.
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Paragraph #10
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… And Perhaps a Thrill
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Para #11 Overall, however, planetary scientists are clearly
Paragraph #11
thrilled that we might be close to such a major discovery. “When I
was growing up,” Sheppard says, “we thought the big planets
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had all been found. It would be very exciting and very surprising
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to learn that we were wrong.”
Para #12 The mood of the astronomers is captured, Laughlin
says, by something British astronomer John Herschel said in
1846. It looked like the gravity of an unknown, massive planet
was tugging on the planet Uranus.
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Para #13 “We see it as Columbus saw America from the shores
of Spain," Herschel said. Just two weeks later, the planet
Neptune was discovered, right where the astronomers said it
should be.
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Paragraph #12
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TURN TO BACK PAGE FOR QUESTIONS
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Quiz
STANDARD 3: PEOPLE, EVENTS, AND IDEAS
1. According to the article, why would the planetary scientists consider the discovery of a
new planet a "big deal"?
A)
B)
C)
D)
The new planet is more massive than Earth.
"Planet Nine" would be part of our solar system.
Viewing the new planet would be exciting.
We need another planet to make our solar system complete.
STANDARD 3: PEOPLE, EVENTS, AND IDEAS
2. According to the article, with which of the following statements would the British
astronomer John Herschel AGREE?
A)
B)
C)
D)
Scientists should be suspicious of big discoveries.
Scientists must always prove their theories.
Scientists need to be wrong at times.
Scientists need to keep their eyes open for new evidence.
STANDARD 4: WORD MEANING
3. Read the paragraph from the section "A 'Crazy' Notion."
The direction of the orbits was an even stronger hint that something was physically moving
these distant objects. “At first,” Brown says, “we said there can’t be a planet out there —
that’s crazy.” However, the only explanation that fit the data was the “crazy” notion of a
planet.
What does the phrase "crazy notion" imply in the sentence?
A)
B)
C)
D)
The scientists thought that the idea of a new planet was silly.
The scientists thought a new planet was unlikely to exist.
The scientists thought the idea of a new planet was clever.
The scientists thought that the new planet was real.
STANDARD 5: TEXT STRUCTURE
4. Read the paragraph from the section " ... And Perhaps A Thrill."
The mood of the astronomers is captured, Laughlin says, by something British astronomer
John Herschel said in 1846. It looked like the gravity of an unknown, massive planet was
tugging on the planet Uranus.
What is the meaning of the word "captured" as used in this paragraph?
A)
B)
C)
D)
Rescued
Demonstrated
Changed
Force