'Wobbly' planet perplexes scientists

Nasa scientists are amazed by the discovery of a very wobbly planet. The planet was discovered by the Kepler telescope which watches how stars are dimmed as something passes in front of them.

                Planets normally stick to a regular pattern, but not Kepler-413b. Its erratic progress in the Cygnus solar system, 2,300 light years away, has astonished experts at the American space agency. Not only does the planet bob up and down as it makes an irregular orbit of two orange and red dwarf stars, but it spins on its own axis, rather like a child’s spinning top. “Everything wobbles a little bit,” said a spokesman for the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. “But this is much much faster. If our skies kept on wobbling like this it would make a real mess of our star signs and astrology.”

                Normally planets behave like clockwork, transiting in front of the star and blocking the light. But Kepler 413-b behaves rather differently. "Looking at the Kepler data over the course of 1,500 days, we saw three transits in the first 180 days – one transit every 66 days,” said Veselin Kostov, the principal investigator on the observation. “Then we had 800 days with no transits at all. After that, we saw five more transits in a row." Whether this is a one-off is a matter of conjecture although scientists believe there could be others behaving in the same way that have yet to be discovered.

                There is interest in another couple of Kepler planets, but neither has behaved as dramatically as 413-b. "This is the first really wobbly planet to be found. There are a couple of others which wobble a bit, but much more slowly," said Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian centre for astrophysics. "The thought is though that they might be rather common, and we've been missing them in our searches, but now we know they exist we'll think of better ways to find them."

                Kepler 413-b's tilt can be as much as 30 degrees and this has also led to a rather unpredictable climate. “Imagine living on a planet with seasons so erratic you would hardly know whether to wear Bermuda shorts or a heavy overcoat,” said a Nasa spokesman. In fact, because it orbits so close to its stars, Kepler is too hot for liquids to exist.

Question 1 (2 points) Indicate whether the following statements are true or false and write down which part of the text justifies your answer.

a. Kepler 413-b revolves around the Cygnus.

b. It would be impossible to study the stars and planets if all of them wobbled.

c. Kepler 413-b has been studied for more than four years.

d.Thanks to the discovery of the Kepler 413-b, it might be easier to find other similar ones

Question 2 (2 points) Answer the following questions in your own words.

a. What makes Kepler 413-b different? Give two reasons.

b. Could life be possible in Kepler 413-b? give two reasons. 

Question 3 (1.5 points) Find words or phrases in the text that correspond in meaning to the words and definitions given.

a. fade (paragaraph 1)

b. model (paragaraph 2)

c. main (paragaraph 3)

d. exception (paragaraph 3)

e. investigation (paragaraph 4) 

Question 4 (1.5 points) Complete the following sentences without changing the meaning.

a. Nasa Scientists are amazed by the discovery of a very wobbly planet.

   The discovery…

b. Scientists believe there are other planets behaving in the same way.

    Other planets…

c. Jonathan McDowell said: “This is the first really wobbly planet to be found”

    Jonathan McDowell explained that…

Question 5 (3 points) Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:

“There can be life in other planets”. Do you agree with this statement?