Module 7: A Short Story

How come he had never mentioned this before now?
“So it seems. On April 23, 2014, NASA's Swift satellite detected an immensely powerful flare coming from a red dwarf star they named DG Cvn. They reported it as being nearby, but apart from the flare data they have never told us the location of the star. The space agency simply presented us with a startling and unexplained discovery.”
“You looked for it though, right?”
“You need to know where to look. And often times you need permission. The equipment we use is very expensive and takes time and planning before we focus on a location.”
Michael took a sip from his beer and looked around at the other three. “Now officially DG Cvn is presented as a young sun.”
Penny shook her head. “Wait up, Dad. …show more content…

These are not the common ‘gone in seconds’ little streak more familiar to us in the past. The ones we have been seeing more and more frequently in recent years are large, slow-moving, and bright green.”
“Where are they coming from?” Penny asked.
“It looks like they come out of the debris circling in a virtual field of rubble circling outside the orbits of the planets we call the Kuiper belt. We figure a giant passing body bumps them in our direction. We know it's not a matter of a giant body doing a wobble in its orbit because of the number of meteors we continue to see. In other words, the debris isn't the only thing coming our way. There's a giant body following them.”
Stephen cleared his throat. “Well, there's nothing new about the idea of a large planet orbiting beyond the fringe of our solar system.”
“Right. But I'm talking about something very large going right through our solar system.”
“I think it's all nonsense myself,” Stephen said, his face reddening with annoyance. He got out of his chair. “Must be time to go.”
Franchette called out from the patio door.” So soon, …show more content…

“Stephen will get over it.”
“He might not,” Michael said with a glum face. Then he shrugged. “But Franchette is right. I wouldn't worry too much, mate. It's not like he's supervising your research, is it?”
Karl pulled a dining chair over and sat down. “No, and I am very relieved he isn't.”

The men brought the clutter of the barbecue into the kitchen. Penny watched in horror as her mother shooed the men away from the sink in the kitchen where they had stacked a small pile of bowls and dishes.
Franchette wanted the chance to speak to her daughter about the graduation. She knew there might be better times to choose to mention to her that her mum and dad couldn't make it to the ceremony, but she just had to tell her now.
Michael is such a coward when it came to things like that. He should have told Penny ages ago when he knew the symposium on astronomy and astrophysics was coming up. He can be very trying!
Penny braced herself as she watched her mother busying herself in the kitchen. It was unfamiliar territory for her mother. She knew what it meant and there was no escaping it.
“Sorry, Penny. I wanted to talk with you. Are you two heading back into town tonight?”
“I think so, Mum. Is it about Storm and