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"Planet Nine": Have Astronomers Found a Huge New World Past Pluto? by Scientific American, Adapted by Newsela Staff 01.25.16

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Name: ______________________________ Period: ______ Date: _____________ 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 ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ 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 Paragraph #2 now. ___________________________ Para #2 ___________________________ 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 say the new planet is orbiting in the solar system’s outer darkness ___________________________ beyond Pluto. 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. ___________________________ Para #4 “I haven’t been this excited about something in quite a Paragraph #4 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. ___________________________ . ___________________________ Para #5 “Sadly,” Brown says, the scientists haven't actually detected it yet. Still, the evidence is strong enough that other Paragraph #5 experts are taking it seriously. “I think it’s pretty convincing,” says Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii. ___________________________ 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. Paragraph #6 What was the central idea of paragraphs 3-6? ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ Paragraph #7 ___________________________ ___________________________ 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." Paragraph #8 ___________________________ 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. ___________________________ 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 Paragraph #9 “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. ___________________________ 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 Paragraph #10 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. ___________________________ … And Perhaps a Thrill ___________________________ 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 ___________________________ had all been found. It would be very exciting and very surprising 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. Paragraph #12 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. ___________________________ ___________________________ Paragraph #13 ___________________________ TURN TO BACK PAGE FOR QUESTIONS ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ 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) The new planet is more massive than Earth. B) "Planet Nine" would be part of our solar system. C) Viewing the new planet would be exciting. D) 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) Scientists should be suspicious of big discoveries. B) Scientists must always prove their theories. C) Scientists need to be wrong at times. D) 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) The scientists thought that the idea of a new planet was silly. B) The scientists thought a new planet was unlikely to exist. C) The scientists thought the idea of a new planet was clever. D) 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) Rescued B) Demonstrated C) Changed D) Force .
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