Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Scientists have found a new planet. It circles a star called Beta Pictoris.
This is the third planet found around this star. Scientists used a giant telescope in space called the James Webb Space Telescope to find it.
The new planet was hiding in old pictures for more than ten years. Nobody had noticed it until now.
The new planet is called Beta Pictoris d. It is a huge ball of gas, about 2.4 times heavier than Jupiter, the biggest planet in our own solar system.
- planet
- a large round object in space that moves around a star
- star
- a huge ball of burning gas in space that gives off light, like our sun
- telescope
- a tool used to see far away objects in space
- space
- the area beyond Earth where stars and planets exist
- giant
- extremely large in size
- hide
- to be in a place where others cannot easily see you
- notice
- to see or become aware of something
- gas
- a substance, like air, that is not solid or liquid
Level 2 — Elementary
Astronomers have discovered a third planet orbiting the nearby young star Beta Pictoris, using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope along with Europe's Very Large Telescope.
The newly confirmed planet, named Beta Pictoris d, had actually been hiding in more than a decade of archived observations before scientists finally identified it.
Beta Pictoris d is a gas giant with roughly 2.4 times the mass of Jupiter, and it is about 100 times fainter than Beta Pictoris b, the first planet discovered in the system back in 2008.
The discovery makes Beta Pictoris only the second known planetary system, after our own solar system's near-neighbors, to have at least three planets directly imaged by telescopes rather than detected indirectly.
- astronomer
- a scientist who studies stars, planets, and space
- orbit
- the curved path an object follows as it moves around another object
- confirm
- to establish that something is true or certain
- archive
- a collection of records or data kept from the past
- gas giant
- a large planet made mostly of gas rather than solid rock
- mass
- the amount of matter an object contains
- faint
- not bright; difficult to see clearly
- directly
- without anything coming between; in this case, seen in an actual image
Level 3 — Intermediate
Astronomers have identified a third planet orbiting the young, nearby star Beta Pictoris, combining data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope with observations from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope to confirm the find.
Remarkably, the newly designated planet, Beta Pictoris d, had been present in more than a decade's worth of archived telescope data all along, evading detection until researchers reanalyzed the observations with more sensitive techniques.
Roughly 2.4 times as massive as Jupiter, Beta Pictoris d is approximately 100 times fainter than Beta Pictoris b, the system's first known planet, and it occupies the widest orbit of the three worlds now confirmed around the star.
The discovery elevates Beta Pictoris to only the second planetary system, after our own, known to host at least three planets that have been directly imaged rather than inferred through indirect methods such as measuring a star's wobble.
- designate
- to officially assign a name or role to something
- evade
- to escape or avoid detection
- reanalyze
- to examine data again, often with new methods
- sensitive
- capable of detecting very small changes or signals
- occupy
- to take up or hold a particular position or space
- elevate
- to raise something to a higher status or level
- infer
- to reach a conclusion based on evidence rather than direct observation
- wobble
- a small, irregular shaking or unsteady movement
Level 4 — Advanced
Astronomers have identified a third planet orbiting the young, nearby star Beta Pictoris, corroborating the find by combining infrared spectroscopy from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope with archival imaging from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope.
Remarkably, the newly designated Beta Pictoris d had lain undetected within more than a decade of archived telescope data, its presence obscured until researchers reanalyzed the observations using more sensitive analytical techniques capable of teasing out faint signals from instrumental noise.
With a mass roughly 2.4 times that of Jupiter, Beta Pictoris d is approximately a hundredfold fainter than Beta Pictoris b, the system's inaugural known planet, and it occupies the widest orbit among the three worlds now confirmed to encircle the star.
The discovery elevates Beta Pictoris to the status of only the second planetary system, after our own, verified to host at least three planets characterized through direct imaging rather than inferred via indirect methods such as radial-velocity wobble or transit photometry.
- corroborate
- to confirm or give supporting evidence for a claim
- spectroscopy
- the scientific study of how light interacts with matter, often used to analyze distant objects
- obscure
- to hide or make something difficult to see or understand
- analytical
- relating to careful, systematic examination of data
- hundredfold
- a hundred times as great or as many
- encircle
- to form a circle around something
- characterize
- to describe or identify the distinctive qualities of something
- photometry
- the measurement of the brightness of light, often used in astronomy
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