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Passage IV 55
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characteristics, to have warped our galactic home. The
Sagittarius Dwarf seems a much more likely candidate,
NATURAL SCIENCE: This passage is adapted from the article simply because it is only a third as far from the center
“Warp Factor” by Charles Liu (©2003 by Natural History Maga- of the Milky Way as the Magellanic Clouds. But in
zine, Inc.). astronomy—unlike in real estate—location isn’t every-
60 thing; to show a direct connection between warp and
Astronomers sometimes describe the shape of our dwarf, the orbital motion of the Sagittarius Dwarf must
home galaxy, the Milky Way, as a thin-crust pizza with be linked to the rotation of the Milky Way’s disk.
a plum stuck in the middle. The plum is the slightly
oblong central bulge, protruding about 3,000 light- Bailin’s study is the first to find such a link. His
5 years above and below the galactic plane, comprised analysis of the galactic warp is based on angular
mostly of older stars; it makes up the core of the Milky 65 momentum—a measure of how much a system is spin-
Way, and includes a black hole two and a half million ning or rotating. Just as objects moving in a straight
times the mass of the Sun. The crust of the pizza is the line have momentum, objects spinning or orbiting
galactic disk—the source of most of our galaxy’s light. around an axis have angular momentum; and just as the
10 Thin and flat, the disk is 100,000 light-years across, momenta of two objects combine when they collide, so
about 1,000 light-years thick, on average, and includes 70 too do their angular momenta. Imagine two figure
more than 80 percent of the galaxy’s hundred billion or skaters coming together for a combination spin. When
so stars. they make physical contact, their individual spiraling
motions combine to produce a single, unified whirl.
The plum-and-pizza picture works well enough,
15 but like most simple metaphors, it breaks down if you Starting with the latest measurements of the struc-
push it. For one thing, the galactic disk isn’t a rigid 75 ture and spin of the Milky Way, Bailin deduced the
body, but a loose agglomeration of matter streaming angular momentum of the warped portion of the Milky
around a common center of gravity. (The swirling pat- Way’s disk. He then compared that measure with the
tern of a hurricane far better resembles our spinning angular momentum of the Sagittarius Dwarf—and
20 galaxy.) For another thing, our galaxy’s disk isn’t flat; found for the first time, within the margins of measure-
it’s warped. Picture a disk of pizza dough spun into the 80 ment error, that the two angular momenta are identical
air by a skilled chef: our galaxy goes through the same in both quantity and direction. Such a coupling of the
kind of floppy, wobbly gyrations, though at a rate best angular momenta of two bodies almost never happens
measured in revolutions per hundreds of millions of by chance; usually, it takes place only when two spin-
25 years. ning systems, like the skaters, come into contact. The
85 coupling isn’t enough to prove cause and effect by
Why does the Milky Way have such an odd- itself, but it’s solid circumstantial evidence that the
looking warp? No definitive answer has emerged. One interaction of the Sagittarius Dwarf with the Milky Way
thing we do know: when it comes to warps, our galaxy disk created the warp in our galaxy.
is hardly unique. About half of all spiral galaxies are
30 warped to some degree. Theoretical and computational
models have shown that a number of physical processes
can warp a galaxy, so it’s a matter of figuring out which
scenario applies. An innovative analysis of the problem 31. Which of the following statements best expresses the
by Jeremy Bailin, an astronomy graduate student at the main idea of the passage?
35 University of Arizona in Tucson, has implicated a small
satellite galaxy, currently being ripped to shreds by the A. Bailin began studying the Sagittarius Dwarf when
gravity of the Milky Way. he was a graduate student in astronomy.
B. The gravitational tidal forces of the Milky Way are
The Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy was dis- destroying the Sagittarius Dwarf.
covered in 1994. It appears to be in a roughly polar C. Most astronomers have come to an agreement that
40 orbit around the Milky Way—that is, above and below evidence about how galaxies have formed is, at
the galactic disk—about 50,000 light-years from the best, circumstantial.
galactic center. That orbit brings the dwarf galaxy far D. Evidence suggests that the warp in the Milky
too close to the huge gravitational tidal forces of the Way’s disk results from the Milky Way’s interac-
Milky Way for the dwarf to remain intact. As a result, tion with a small satellite galaxy.
45 the Sagittarius Dwarf now looks something like strands
of spaghetti spilling from the front of a pasta-making 32. It can reasonably be inferred that the problem the
machine, the galaxy’s matter being drawn out over hun- author mentions in line 33 refers to:
dreds of millions of years by intergalactic tides. F. a particular aspect of Bailin’s theory for which
there is little evidence.
Gravitational collisions between small satellite G. a mathematical computation that led Bailin to
50 galaxies and big spiral galaxies have long been focus on the Sagittarius Dwarf.
regarded as possible culprits in the warping of a larger H. the question of which physical processes caused
galaxy’s disk. The best known satellite galaxies orbit- the warp in the Milky Way.
ing the Milky Way—the Large and Small Magellanic J. the potential impact of wobbly gyrations on the
Clouds—are too far away, and have the wrong orbital Milky Way’s rotation.

ACT-1874FPRE 38 GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.

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33. It can reasonably be inferred from the passage that the
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37. The author refers to the swirling pattern of a hurricane
small satellite galaxy referred to in lines 35–36 is: primarily in order to:
A. the Small Magellanic Cloud. A. help explain the shortcomings of the plum-and-
B. the Sagittarius Dwarf. pizza metaphor.
C. a known but as yet unnamed galaxy. B. argue that the unpredictability of the rotation of
D. a hypothetical galaxy that is believed to exist but spiral galaxies requires a new metaphor.
has not yet been found. C. emphasize the particular aspects of the Milky Way
that make it unique.
D. describe how the movement of the Milky Way cre-
34. Based on the passage, which of the following state- ates gravitational tides.
ments best describes Bailin’s study as it relates to the
field of astronomy? 38. The passage directly compares the Milky Way’s disk as
F. It led astronomers to the discovery of a warp in the it is affected by its warp to:
Milky Way’s disk. F. a pasta maker churning out spaghetti.
G. It convinced more astronomers to focus their atten- G. pizza dough being spun in the air by a chef.
tion on the center of the Milky Way. H. a thin-crust pizza balanced on top of a plum.
H. It revealed problems with the basic assumptions J. two figure skaters coming together for a combina-
held by most astronomers. tion spin.
J. It provided evidence for an idea that scientists had
long considered a possibility but had not yet 39. According to the passage, which of the following state-
proved. ments best describes the movement of the Sagittarius
Dwarf with respect to the Milky Way?
35. According to the passage, Bailin discovered that the A. It appears to be in a roughly polar orbit around the
angular momentum of the warped portion of the Milky Milky Way.
Way and the angular momentum of the Sagittarius B. It appears to orbit the Milky Way at an angle of
Dwarf are: roughly forty-five degrees.
A. identical in quantity but different in direction. C. It follows the movement of the stars in the Milky
B. identical in direction but different in quantity. Way’s disk, though at a slightly faster rate.
C. identical in both quantity and direction. D. It once followed the movement of the stars in the
D. different in both quantity and direction. Milky Way’s disk, but now seems to move errati-
cally along its own path.
36. According to the passage, the central bulge of the 40. The passage describes angular momentum as the
Milky Way is comprised of: amount of a system’s:
F. 80 percent of the galaxy’s stars. F. vertical deviation within an orbital path.
G. older stars and a black hole. G. movement in a straight line through space.
H. a galactic plane and several dwarf planets. H. gravitational pull.
J. a loose agglomeration of unidentified matter. J. spin or rotation.

END OF TEST 3
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ACT-1874FPRE 39