Match the space words (1 to 8) to the definitions (a-h).

1Sun

2 Star

3 Moon

4 Spaceship

5 Alien

6 Space

7 Marcian

8 Astronaut

a. A vehicle for travelling in space.

b. A person who travels into space.

c. The place where all the planets, stars and universe exist.

d. A giant ball of fire millions of light years away.

e. The giant ball of fire that gives us light and keeps us warm. The Earth revolves around it once a year.

f. The large rock which reflects sunlight at night. It revolves around the Earth once a month.

g. A creature from another planet.

h. Someone/something from the planet Mars.

2. This article is about the discovery of a new planet. What do you think could be so special about it? Think. Then, read the article once to check your ideas.

GLOSSARY

to pack upvb if you “pack up”, you put your things in bags because you are planning to leave

adventurousadj full of action and excitement

a light-yearn the distance light travels in one year (10 trillion km)

red dwarfn a star (or sun) which is much smaller and cooler than a normal star

on the threshold ofexp if you are “on the threshold of” something, you are very nearly there or it is about to happen

Age of Discoveryn a period between the 15th and 17^th centuries when lots of countries were visited / colonised / discovered (often by Europeans who’d never been there before) )

to go forphr vb if you “go for” something, you choose it

atmospheric conditionsexp the climate, temperature, type of air, etc. on a planet

to rotatevbm to turn on an axis or central point

perpetualadj continuously; all the time

a suntann if you have a “suntan”, your skin has become darker because you have been outside in the sun

a neighbourn someone who lives close to you

alien lifen living things from other planets

insignificantadj not important

a flean a small insect that often lives in the hair of an animal

terrifyingadj very scary or frightening

fire-breathingadj a “fire-breathing” monster can blow fire from its mouth (like a dragon)

a single-cell bacterian a very small living thing; the simplest form of life

to shake perceptionsexp to change the way most people think about something

to get away from it allexp to have a holiday so you can forget about your everyday life / problems

frequent flyer pointsexp points you get based on the number of kilometres you fly with a particular airline. Later, you can use these points to buy things (such as other flights)

How would you like to pack up and leave the country? Not adventurous enough for you? Well, how about leaving the planet? The idea may not be as ridiculous as you’d imagine.

The big news is that a new planet has been discovered. Its name is Gliese 581 g, and it’s 20 light-years away. The planet is one of six discovered in the Gliese 581 planetary system, and it’s located at the perfect distance from the red dwarf star Gliese 581, which is a type of sun, although much cooler than ours.

Scientists are extremely excited. It only took 11 years to find Gliese 581 g after the initial discovery of the system, which is a relatively short period in astronomy time. “Either we’ve just been incredibly lucky in this early detection, or we’re truly on the threshold of a second Age of Discovery,” said astronomer Steven Bogt.

The planet is referred to as a possible “Goldilocks planet”. The name comes from the popular children’s story Goldilocks and the Three Bears, in which a little girl (Goldilocks) has to choose between three things, and ignores the ones that are either too hot or big, or too cold or small, and goes for the ones that are just right. Experts believe the temperature on Gliese 581 g could be between -37.C and -12°C, and atmospheric conditions could permit the existence of water. This could mean that it could be inhabited by humans.

However, there are a couple of drawbacks. For a start, the planet doesn’t rotate in the same way that earth does. This means that half the planet is in perpetual darkness, while the other is always light. So, if you ever decided to go and live there, you’d need to work out whether you wanted a great suntan or fantastic nightlife.

Secondly, you may also want to consider who your neighbours might be. Bogt has said the possibility of alien life existing on the planet is “100%”, although no one’s sure exactly what form it’ll take – it could be as insignificant as a flea, or as terrifying as a 10-headed, fire-breathing monster. However, “even the discovery of a single-cell bacteria on Gliese 581 g could shake perceptions about the uniqueness of life on Earth,” he added.

Anyway, if you do fancy a trip to outer space, there’s some more good news. Virgin Galactic is planning its first commercial flights into space by early 2012. A great way to get away from it all… if you’ve got around €144,100 to spare!

Of course, if you wanted to go to Gliese 581 g, you’d need to travel 190 trillion kilometres to get there. But just think of the frequent flyer points!