| Planet
search reveals smallest star ever
NewScientist.com news service, 4th March
2005
I thought that
the article was well written. In the title the writer
makes it very clear to the reader what the article is
about, and in the first paragraph she clearly explains
what has been discovered – the smallest star ever detected.
The article is rather long, but she has broken it up into
three easy-to-read sections.
In the article
she uses words and figures to describe how big the star
is (eg 16% larger than Jupiter, smaller than some known
planets) but she has also included an image that shows
the size of the object in relation to Jupiter and the
Sun. The use of the visual to go with the text is a good
journalistic tool that really drives home the message,
in this case the small size of the star.
In the article
she asks the questions “if it IS a star, shouldn’t it
be burning hydrogen? If it is, could this not be seen?”
The use of questions induces the reader to think critically
about the topic.
I also thought
that this article was very informative. I learnt a lot
from it, especially about the techniques that are used
for detecting extra-solar planets (by observing the wobbles
the object causes in nearby stars and by measuring the
amount it dims the light coming form the star when it
passes in front of it). Some of these methods were discussed
briefly in this weeks lecture and this article has reinforced
those ideas.
She has also included some information on the formation
of stars, and about other planets and unusual stars that
have been detected, which I thought was very interesting.
The author
describes to the reader what is to happen in future space
missions. She tells us what the astronomer is hoping for
next and why such a discovery would be important. She
also includes a journal reference so that the reader can
locate more information about the discovery if they wish
to. This is important because it keeps the reader interested
in the topic and inspires them to come back for more information.
I found this
article very easy to follow and full of lots of interesting
information. The author has used a number of techniques,
such as images and thought-provoking questions to get
the message across and to keep the reader interested in
the subject.
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