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sweetpinkpixie · 06-07-2013, 06:26 AM

Checking his sundial for a moment to give the students some time to think, he looked up and leaned over to the side a bit to glance out the window at tonight's visibility. Good good, clear skies it was! He just wished that students still had their telescopes to use. No matter. He was sure they would enjoy using the charm he had up his suit sleeves just as much.

And now it was back to the students whose hands were popping up all over the classroom.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

Mo got a nod and then the professor got his undivided attention.

That was all a lot to take in and West closed his eyes, mentally mapping stars up there and such. Oh constellations were fun. He stuck his hand up. "Equuleus off to the West." And a tiiiiiny bit West-South-Westish of Polaris, but West of where they were. He could SEE it in his minds eye.

Heh. To the West.

"Equuleus, also known as the Little Horse, yes, very good Mr. Odessa!" he replied while giving the blackboard a tap with his wand to make the words appear there to start a running list.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazykitty

"Oooo..... I know which star is the brightest in the sky!" Since, you know, no one had answered it yet. And also, sky. *beam* "It's the sun. In fact, it's so bright, they say that if you stare directly at it, you'll go eventually go blind." Now for the current question. "Capricorn is visible this time of year." Hopefully she wasn't about to get in trouble for that answer, since it was also used in a certain other topic the professor hated....

"Very GOOD," he replied as he gave the girl two thumbs up. "The sun IS the brightest star in our sky. So bright, in fact, that when it has risen, its light is so bright that it drowns out all other stars and makes it appear as though they are not there. All constellations are there year round, but not always visible at night." Did that make sense to them? He hoped it did because he was getting way too excited about everything.

"Capricorn, also knows as Capricornus, YES! You can see that constellation tonight if you look a bit south."

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheeseStrings

So she raised her hand to answer. "The Hunter, Professor? It's portrayed like a person shooting an arrow with a bow. And it's shooting another star, isn't it?"

"Good, Miss O'Hara! The Hunter, or Orion as I prefer to call it, can indeed be found if one were to look east."

Quote:

Originally Posted by xXxPandora

The constellations surrounding the Polaris. Three were already mentioned. She had one in mind. "There's the Draco constellation, Professor." Was it south from the Polaris? Err.....she wasn't sure. "It's named as such because its stars form a dragon and it is one of five circumpolar constellations in the Northern hemisphere."

"STELLAR, Miss Castell!" he grinned as the word Draco appeared on the board in its own little category before he hurried over to her desk and JUMPED on it. "Miss Castell raised a very important concept that I want you all to pay attention to! In our sky there are five circumpolar constellations. These constellations are important because they circle around the celestial pole, Polaris, and never set or fall bellow the horizon line. They will always move in counter clockwise motions around Polaris and will always be visible at night provided no obstacles get in the way. Know these constellations well."

He flicked his wand towards the board to include three more in that list that he had already mentioned - being Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and Cassiopeia. He had to wonder if anyone would bring up the fifth and final one in their answer...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry174

Laura looked at the Professor an raised her hand. "Professor maybe there is the Little Bear." Laura wasn't sure about this question but it was better than her other guess, she was thinking about Woody, well they did name them after famous things right but she thought that would have been too easy so chose something Little Bear instead.

Small pause as he jumped off the Ravenclaw prefect's desk. "Yes, Little Bear is another name for Ursa Minor that we have already discussed." So no maybe about that on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princesspower

Sarah raised her hand, "I read somewhere that a star called the Gamma Cephei is going to be the next north star, as it is closest to the north pole. Yet getting back to the topic, wouldn't Taurus be present as it is in the sky from November to March?" Just a thought, Sarah did not know where in its travels of the sky it was now.

He nodded. Yep. Just as he had said. "Indeed it would be," he grinned as Taurus appeared on the ever growing list.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meizzner

Well it appeared that he did not know the planet Trenzalore. But that was probably because it does not existed outside of fiction. Nigel shrugs then answers.

"Trenzalore is a planet that has a battlefield graveyard and the tomb of the Doctor. Also no living creature can speak falsely or fail to answer, while on the planet. Though inside the tomb was not a body, but an entity that contained the Doctor's personal time tunnel from Gallifrey to Trenzalore."

Well that is enough about Trenzalore. So know back to his question about constellations."There is the Corona Borealis". Though Nigel was not sure if that was visible in December.

Ravenclaw say what? Who was the Doctor? Airey was an astronomer. A professor. Not a doctor ~~dangit Jim~~. So Airey was just going to stand here and stare at Mr. Barrington long enough to hopefully make the boy uncomfortable so he could reflect on what he had done.

"Right you are." About the constellation. Now...whatever it was he had just said about the other thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Jory laughed at Professor Airey and his wiggly eyebrows. The man was funny. "Er...I think it's Sirius? Or it could be the Sun.'' he said. Which one was it? Te Puffer didn't know for sure.

Complicated charts but Jory tried to follow as best as he could. They were fascinating. He raised his hand. "Professor, Orion will be visible in December.'' He liked that name. Orion. It reminded him of the cat in Men in Black 3 that was named Orion.

"Correct! When it comes to the night sky, the star Sirius is the brightest," he nodded. Thumbs up to you, Mr. Stonewall. "Yes it will be." Just as Miss O'Hara had said earlier. Hufflepuffs. They did always seem to stick together.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

Constellation talk?

Ella smiled a little. She absently looked up and let her green eyes search for Little Treyen star. Was he up there and shining brightly right now? She hoped so. Anyway, back to the question. "Professor, I believe Cetus is one. It represents a sea monster or something." And sea monsters were cool. Scary cool.

"Very good, Miss Ella," he nodded with another flick of the wand. "Nowadays people refer to it as the whale rather than a sea monster. I personally prefer sea monster, however." He paused for a moment to tap his wand over his eyelids, utter an incantation, and then peered out at the night sky. "And you are all in luck tonight! Seems as though Pluto will be making it's appearance near this constellation."

Poor Pluto.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hpfan18

"Professor i know the constellation Pegasus can be seen in October which is when i saw it, well my grandfather pointed it out."

Yup that is all he knew and he liked the other student's answers as well. He still continued to take notes and sketch the diagrams the professor put on the board.

"Very good, Mr. Lecium! Pegasus can indeed be seen tonight as well." And on to the list it went.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CassiopeiaAKTF

"Oh, oh! i know one! Lupus is a constellation as well. I read during my OWL studies that they aren't the brightest stars and something about men...AND your last name was mentioned as well Professor!"

*BEAMS*!

That was funny right?! he thought it was..hehehe

"Lupus is indeed a constellation. Unfortunately it will not be visible for us tonight. Lupus is best seen in the Northern Hemisphere in June." So try checking the skies again then.

His last name was mentioned in his reading? Heh. He wondered if Mr. Katharos had put the pieces of that puzzle together. "John Flamsteed I assume, yes?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonea

The young girl kept her mouth shut, she KNEW that if she would try to answer it would be wrong, so why would she made a fool of herself? She wanted to know this, she wanted to be good at this lesson, but this was something she couldn’t knew! She was a second year and she didn’t remembered that she had learned this during her first year… Sonea looked around her and wondered if there were some second years like she who knew the right answer, and if they knew it, she wondered where they had learned it…

Silence but diligent note taking from the first year snake. Airey gave her an encouraging nod before moving on to the next student with their hand raised.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermionesclone

Okay... constellations... constellations that can be found in December time... "Professor?" he said, raising his hand in the air, "There's one called Perseus! Which... translates to the Hero, I think. Just like the person in legends it was named after...?" He... didn't know.

"Perseus, yes, very good Mr. Summers," he nodded as it was added to the list.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemon

"Auriga's visible in December, I think, professor," Alice voiced, hand up. She wasn't taking notes because she was writing everything down mentally, see? But she actually paid attention in this class, mostly due to Airey's little outbursts of professor enthusiasm, and his whole little lecture had stuck in her head. All information registered. She was pretty sure she could recite that whole bit about Gamma Cephei verbatim.

Constellations, though. Auriga. And yeah.

Airey grinned. He had to admit that he was very impressed by students and their extensive knowledge of constellations - especially for some of the lesser known ones like the one Miss Fischer had just shared. "Very good, Miss Fischer."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga

Next question.. Oh Constellations! They had learned about these before. She wasn't sure if it was the positive praise or if she was just finally becoming focused but Minerva hot her hand up so fast she almost bounced out of her seat. " Professor.. We learned about this once before, I remember that Fornax is a December constellation, but oh wait I think that is southern." still bouncing a bit she bit her lip and tried to think, "Oh..oh there is Eridanus.. I think that is a north one.."

"Fornax is indeed visible in December...but in the Southern Hemisphere," he corrected gently. Although she had already essentially corrected herself so there was nothing to worry about there. "However, you may be able to catch a glimpse of a part of it tonight if you look south enough." So he would add it to the list just in case. "Eridanus, however, you will be able to see perfectly fine."

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScarletCharm104

Marigold thought a bit before remembering one.

"Professor, isn't there a hero one? Perseus or something?"

"There is," he winked while pointing to the board. See? Right there on the list.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

....

Er....

Lex sunk down in her seat a bit. Would the Professor mind very much that she didn't know an answer to offer in this situation? Naturally, she knew what the sky looked like at night but she never made a habit of looking up and learning the names of the constellations especially with them changing from month to month.

So she sat, trying to be as invisible as possible and scribbled down the names of constellations as they were being given by her classmates.

How did they even know these? Something told her a few of the mentioned constellations were in the textbook but that's where the problem started...she'd never bothered to read that thing so...yeah, that would have been a major problem.

Scribble. Scribble.

For now, this worked.

He was actually rather disappointed that he had no reply from Miss Cambridge. But seeing how busy and diligent she was being taking her notes made up for it. Slightly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DecemberMoon

Unsure if someone else had already said her answer or not, Eliza said hers quietly after she raised her hand. "Professor, Hydras is visible in December. The water snake," she put her hand down, but then she had a thought. "Erm, Professor? Why isn't the Sagittarius constellation visible in December? Since...it's related to December birthdays?" Not saying the actual word astrology out loud. Nope, never. But it was a valid question, she thought.

This one....was confusing the noble art of Astronomy with Astrology. He could feel his blood boiling and his eyes narrowed for a moment as most of his happiness was zapped from him. Astrology, the entire concept, was like a dementor to the man.

"Because that has little to do with real science," he said while trying to avoid using the word truth in there. Although she was lucky that the Zodiac was actually extremely important to historical astronomy."Sagittarius is is high in the daylight sky late December early January, but just not visible at night due to the earth's rotation. However, it is during this time that the Sun passes through the constellation and why it is still relevant."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Oh, he knew this one, especially because Mo and West had used Cassiopeia last term in making their own asterism. His face fell for a moment before Mo's hand shot in the air. No reason to think on that with anything other than fondness or whatever. Right?

"What about Cepheus, Professor? It actually falls between Cassiopeia and the Little Dipper." And had once been part of a lovely asterism that looked like a Bludger and bat.

"Excellent, Mr. Branxton," he nodded. Up on the list the constellation went!

Quote:

Originally Posted by THE Govoni

Blink.

All this excitement from the Professor was doing his head in. So, rubbing at his face some, Dylan sat up a bit straighter in his seat...shrugging. "Sir, it's religious significance...Am I allowed to talk about that here?" There was an extremely curious look on his face as he asked that question...

...but to answer the more recent inquiry..."One of the Zodiac constellations, Aries? 'Arietis' is it's proper name, I think." He knew because he'd just made all those Zodiac cups for Professor Elwood...Serious study had went into their making...

"Oh, no, best not discuss that here," he said with a small shake of the head. He preferred to keep that talk out of the classroom - as did his colleagues. Of course it already seemed as though the Slytherin captain was aware of this policy. Airey had rather been hoping it had held some other significance, however. Pity.

"Aries, yes, very good."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emms

As the Professor asked the class to name other constellations that they would expect to find out near Polaris. The blonde Snake pursed her lips as she tried to recall the poster of constellations. Of course, there was Cassiopeia, Ursa Minor, and Ursa Major but what else was there? She felt as if one of the other constellations (other than Cassiopeia) near Polaris began with C.. Camelpolaris? Camelopolaris? Camelopodalis? she thought. No, no, that didn't sound familiar at all.

All of a sudden, her eyes widened with realization. Aha! Camelopardalis! That was the name of it. But now the question was whether or not this constellation was close to Polaris. She began to doubt herself again.

Finally taking a risk, she raised her hand and decided to be vocal in the class for once. "I'm not sure whether this answer is correct but I do believe that Camelopardalis is near Polaris. Camelopardalis sort of looks like a girraffe and is usually seen near December 4th or 5th.. " said Jo with a nervous grin. Yep, she didn't feel confident about that answer at all.

Oh well....

Airey's eyes LIT up and his smile could hardly be contained by his face. "Camelopardalis! YES! VERY GOOD! Very good indeed." It was a personal favorite of his due to the dates, or date rather, that the young Slytherin had mentioned. "Very good, Miss Goyle!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by fanficfanatict

SO Ascanius completely disregarded his question, the sparkly!glitter!Professor!man, and asked a question of his own, "Professor? Does the castle have wifi reception?" It would explain the GPS question he had from earlier. Huh. And with that, he leaned back in his seat and waited. Well, c'mon. He didn't have all day, guy. Answer the question.

And his good mood from the she-snake's answer was just dementor-ed away by this one. Had he not been paying attention to the lesson why he had explicitly said that muggle things would not work here? Not to mention wifi had little to do with the question he had just asked.

Airey's brow twitched in agitation. "If you are going to look something up I suggest you use your textbook, Mr. Stark," he said while flicking his wand and levitating it in the boy's face to the constellation section. "Minus 5 points for not only wandering severely off topic, but for not paying attention in class."

Quote:

Originally Posted by McFeisty

Raising her hand. ”Professor, the constellation Draco is nearby I do believe” what it was a common name too – so yeah. That was an interesting thing. Why were so many wizards named after actual constellations?

"Draco is indeed visible this time of year," he said with a small nod, still obviously agitated by the previous boy and his off topic question.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl

"Is Aquarius one?" she asked/answered after raising her hand.

"It is! Very good, Miss Greenwell," he said, still not in the best of moods as her suggested constellation was added to the list.

Looking around to see if there were anymore hands in the air, which there were not, he stepped aside from the board and tapped it with his wand to draw attention to it. "I would like you all to now please take a look at the board. Please note that this list is by no means complete and there are still many constellations visible in tonight's sky that no one mentioned. I will add just a few more of those to the list."

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackboard

Visible Constellations in December
in the Northern Hemisphere

Andromeda
Aries
Auriga
Camelopardalis
Capricorn
Cetus
Cepheus
Corona Borealis
Cygnus
Equuleus
Eridanus
Fornax
Hercules
Lyra
Pegasus
Perseus
Pisces
Taurus

Five Circumpolar Constellations
in the Northern Hemisphere

Ursa Major
Ursa Minor
Draco
Cassiopeia
Cepheus

"One constellation in particular that was not mentioned but I would like you to remember is Cepheus. It is the fifth constellation of the five circumpolar constellations and named after Cepheus, King of Aethiopia in Greek mythology."

Turning to look at the board for a moment to look over the list, he gave it a reaffirming nod and then turned back to the class. "Now, as we have already discussed, Polaris is our indicator for north. Once you have spotted it you need only go in a clockwise fashion and use one of my personal favorite mnemonics to find the other directions. The mnemonic goes 'Never Eat Soggy Waffles' and represents North, South, East, and West. Therefore, in theory, once you have found Polaris you can now find all the other directions and therefor navigate the world without a map in your hands." And hopefully not get lost.

Alright. Enough talk and theory. Time to get down to the good stuff.

"We will spend the rest of the lesson doing just that, finding Polaris and its surrounding constellations and a few other celestial bodies." Like planets. "However, to do so I had intended on you all using telescopes as some of the planets and constellations may be very hard to see with the naked eye. Unfortunately....those were repossessed recently by goblins, so we are going to have to go with plan B." WHICH WAS SO MUCH MORE LEGENDARY THAN TELESCOPES.

"Older students may be familiar with the Telescope Focusing Charm, Lens Focalis. We will be using a variation of that charm today..." Pause for effect. "On our own eyes." Pretty cool, huh? "The wand movement is the same, a simple swish followed by a tap on your closed eyelids. The incantation is Oculo Focalis. First years and those who are uncomfortable with charmswork should not be worried. You will not harm your eyesight by not performing the spell properly." So breathe kids. Breeeeeeeeathe. "One word of caution. Extended use of this spell WILL cause tiredness and red eyes. Sort of think of how one looks after not sleeping properly. Bags under the eyes is also a common side effect."

The professor then tapped his desk and summoned a stack of posters from the drawer when he then levitated around the classroom.

SPOILER!!: the poster

"You may work alone or with a partner to practice the charm. What I want you to do first is to test your eyesight using this muggle eye chart. Place the poster on the wall and then stand back various distances to test how well you can see and then attempt the charm to see if there is a difference. Once you all have gotten the hang of things we will move on to looking at actual stars. You may begin."

OOC: Just as Professor Flamsteed said, you can do this activity alone or pair up with someone else. For full credit you should have a minimum of 3 posts. Remember that this charm will not cause any serious eye damage. Your character MAY experience a slight burning sensation or tiredness in the eyes, but nothing too extreme.

Please number your posts to make it easier for me. Pretty please with a cherry on top?

I will hopefully post the second part of the activity tomorrow morning GMT+9 before I have to take my little man to the hospital for his shots, but you will still be allowed to continue this activity if you have not completed it so don't worry

06-07-2013, 06:26 AM	#115 (permalink)
sweetpinkpixie Wizarding World RPG Admin Minister for Magic Alley Proprietor Leprechaun Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: The Paths Posts: 40,105 Hogwarts RPG Name: Briallen Ashburry-Hawthorne Gryffindor First Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Nyle Harden Hufflepuff Second Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Iris Harden Ravenclaw Second Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Calliope Barrington Slytherin First Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Diamond Marchbanks Gryffindor Sixth Year Ministry Department Head: Charles Hollingberry Minister's Office Ministry Department Head: Airey Flamsteed Mysteries Diagon Alley Proprietor: Zachaël Lufkin Owl Post x12 x12	astronomizzle ♧ gryffinDORK \| & the rest is drag ♣ #badluckDerf Checking his sundial for a moment to give the students some time to think, he looked up and leaned over to the side a bit to glance out the window at tonight's visibility. Good good, clear skies it was! He just wished that students still had their telescopes to use. No matter. He was sure they would enjoy using the charm he had up his suit sleeves just as much. And now it was back to the students whose hands were popping up all over the classroom. Quote: Originally Posted by Tegz Mo got a nod and then the professor got his undivided attention. That was all a lot to take in and West closed his eyes, mentally mapping stars up there and such. Oh constellations were fun. He stuck his hand up. "Equuleus off to the West." And a tiiiiiny bit West-South-Westish of Polaris, but West of where they were. He could SEE it in his minds eye. Heh. To the West. "Equuleus, also known as the Little Horse, yes, very good Mr. Odessa!" he replied while giving the blackboard a tap with his wand to make the words appear there to start a running list. Quote: Originally Posted by lazykitty "Oooo..... I know which star is the brightest in the sky!" Since, you know, no one had answered it yet. And also, sky. beam "It's the sun. In fact, it's so bright, they say that if you stare directly at it, you'll go eventually go blind." Now for the current question. "Capricorn is visible this time of year." Hopefully she wasn't about to get in trouble for that answer, since it was also used in a certain other topic the professor hated.... "Very GOOD," he replied as he gave the girl two thumbs up. "The sun IS the brightest star in our sky. So bright, in fact, that when it has risen, its light is so bright that it drowns out all other stars and makes it appear as though they are not there. All constellations are there year round, but not always visible at night." Did that make sense to them? He hoped it did because he was getting way too excited about everything. "Capricorn, also knows as Capricornus, YES! You can see that constellation tonight if you look a bit south." Quote: Originally Posted by cheeseStrings So she raised her hand to answer. "The Hunter, Professor? It's portrayed like a person shooting an arrow with a bow. And it's shooting another star, isn't it?" "Good, Miss O'Hara! The Hunter, or Orion as I prefer to call it, can indeed be found if one were to look east." Quote: Originally Posted by xXxPandora The constellations surrounding the Polaris. Three were already mentioned. She had one in mind. "There's the Draco constellation, Professor." Was it south from the Polaris? Err.....she wasn't sure. "It's named as such because its stars form a dragon and it is one of five circumpolar constellations in the Northern hemisphere." "STELLAR, Miss Castell!" he grinned as the word Draco appeared on the board in its own little category before he hurried over to her desk and JUMPED on it. "Miss Castell raised a very important concept that I want you all to pay attention to! In our sky there are five circumpolar constellations. These constellations are important because they circle around the celestial pole, Polaris, and never set or fall bellow the horizon line. They will always move in counter clockwise motions around Polaris and will always be visible at night provided no obstacles get in the way. Know these constellations well." He flicked his wand towards the board to include three more in that list that he had already mentioned - being Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and Cassiopeia. He had to wonder if anyone would bring up the fifth and final one in their answer... Quote: Originally Posted by Harry174 Laura looked at the Professor an raised her hand. "Professor maybe there is the Little Bear." Laura wasn't sure about this question but it was better than her other guess, she was thinking about Woody, well they did name them after famous things right but she thought that would have been too easy so chose something Little Bear instead. Small pause as he jumped off the Ravenclaw prefect's desk. "Yes, Little Bear is another name for Ursa Minor that we have already discussed." So no maybe about that on. Quote: Originally Posted by Princesspower Sarah raised her hand, "I read somewhere that a star called the Gamma Cephei is going to be the next north star, as it is closest to the north pole. Yet getting back to the topic, wouldn't Taurus be present as it is in the sky from November to March?" Just a thought, Sarah did not know where in its travels of the sky it was now. He nodded. Yep. Just as he had said. "Indeed it would be," he grinned as Taurus appeared on the ever growing list. Quote: Originally Posted by Meizzner Well it appeared that he did not know the planet Trenzalore. But that was probably because it does not existed outside of fiction. Nigel shrugs then answers. "Trenzalore is a planet that has a battlefield graveyard and the tomb of the Doctor. Also no living creature can speak falsely or fail to answer, while on the planet. Though inside the tomb was not a body, but an entity that contained the Doctor's personal time tunnel from Gallifrey to Trenzalore." Well that is enough about Trenzalore. So know back to his question about constellations."There is the Corona Borealis". Though Nigel was not sure if that was visible in December. Ravenclaw say what? Who was the Doctor? Airey was an astronomer. A professor. Not a doctor ~~dangit Jim~~. So Airey was just going to stand here and stare at Mr. Barrington long enough to hopefully make the boy uncomfortable so he could reflect on what he had done. "Right you are." About the constellation. Now...whatever it was he had just said about the other thing. Quote: Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 Jory laughed at Professor Airey and his wiggly eyebrows. The man was funny. "Er...I think it's Sirius? Or it could be the Sun.'' he said. Which one was it? Te Puffer didn't know for sure. Complicated charts but Jory tried to follow as best as he could. They were fascinating. He raised his hand. "Professor, Orion will be visible in December.'' He liked that name. Orion. It reminded him of the cat in Men in Black 3 that was named Orion. "Correct! When it comes to the night sky, the star Sirius is the brightest," he nodded. Thumbs up to you, Mr. Stonewall. "Yes it will be." Just as Miss O'Hara had said earlier. Hufflepuffs. They did always seem to stick together. Quote: Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow Constellation talk? Ella smiled a little. She absently looked up and let her green eyes search for Little Treyen star. Was he up there and shining brightly right now? She hoped so. Anyway, back to the question. "Professor, I believe Cetus is one. It represents a sea monster or something." And sea monsters were cool. Scary cool. "Very good, Miss Ella," he nodded with another flick of the wand. "Nowadays people refer to it as the whale rather than a sea monster. I personally prefer sea monster, however." He paused for a moment to tap his wand over his eyelids, utter an incantation, and then peered out at the night sky. "And you are all in luck tonight! Seems as though Pluto will be making it's appearance near this constellation." Poor Pluto. Quote: Originally Posted by hpfan18 "Professor i know the constellation Pegasus can be seen in October which is when i saw it, well my grandfather pointed it out." Yup that is all he knew and he liked the other student's answers as well. He still continued to take notes and sketch the diagrams the professor put on the board. "Very good, Mr. Lecium! Pegasus can indeed be seen tonight as well." And on to the list it went. Quote: Originally Posted by CassiopeiaAKTF "Oh, oh! i know one! Lupus is a constellation as well. I read during my OWL studies that they aren't the brightest stars and something about men...AND your last name was mentioned as well Professor!" BEAMS! That was funny right?! he thought it was..hehehe "Lupus is indeed a constellation. Unfortunately it will not be visible for us tonight. Lupus is best seen in the Northern Hemisphere in June." So try checking the skies again then. His last name was mentioned in his reading? Heh. He wondered if Mr. Katharos had put the pieces of that puzzle together. "John Flamsteed I assume, yes?" Quote: Originally Posted by Sonea The young girl kept her mouth shut, she KNEW that if she would try to answer it would be wrong, so why would she made a fool of herself? She wanted to know this, she wanted to be good at this lesson, but this was something she couldn’t knew! She was a second year and she didn’t remembered that she had learned this during her first year… Sonea looked around her and wondered if there were some second years like she who knew the right answer, and if they knew it, she wondered where they had learned it… Silence but diligent note taking from the first year snake. Airey gave her an encouraging nod before moving on to the next student with their hand raised. Quote: Originally Posted by hermionesclone Okay... constellations... constellations that can be found in December time... "Professor?" he said, raising his hand in the air, "There's one called Perseus! Which... translates to the Hero, I think. Just like the person in legends it was named after...?" He... didn't know. "Perseus, yes, very good Mr. Summers," he nodded as it was added to the list. Quote: Originally Posted by lemon "Auriga's visible in December, I think, professor," Alice voiced, hand up. She wasn't taking notes because she was writing everything down mentally, see? But she actually paid attention in this class, mostly due to Airey's little outbursts of professor enthusiasm, and his whole little lecture had stuck in her head. All information registered. She was pretty sure she could recite that whole bit about Gamma Cephei verbatim. Constellations, though. Auriga. And yeah. Airey grinned. He had to admit that he was very impressed by students and their extensive knowledge of constellations - especially for some of the lesser known ones like the one Miss Fischer had just shared. "Very good, Miss Fischer." Quote: Originally Posted by Bazinga Next question.. Oh Constellations! They had learned about these before. She wasn't sure if it was the positive praise or if she was just finally becoming focused but Minerva hot her hand up so fast she almost bounced out of her seat. " Professor.. We learned about this once before, I remember that Fornax is a December constellation, but oh wait I think that is southern." still bouncing a bit she bit her lip and tried to think, "Oh..oh there is Eridanus.. I think that is a north one.." "Fornax is indeed visible in December...but in the Southern Hemisphere," he corrected gently. Although she had already essentially corrected herself so there was nothing to worry about there. "However, you may be able to catch a glimpse of a part of it tonight if you look south enough." So he would add it to the list just in case. "Eridanus, however, you will be able to see perfectly fine." Quote: Originally Posted by ScarletCharm104 Marigold thought a bit before remembering one. "Professor, isn't there a hero one? Perseus or something?" "There is," he winked while pointing to the board. See? Right there on the list. Quote: Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo .... Er.... Lex sunk down in her seat a bit. Would the Professor mind very much that she didn't know an answer to offer in this situation? Naturally, she knew what the sky looked like at night but she never made a habit of looking up and learning the names of the constellations especially with them changing from month to month. So she sat, trying to be as invisible as possible and scribbled down the names of constellations as they were being given by her classmates. How did they even know these? Something told her a few of the mentioned constellations were in the textbook but that's where the problem started...she'd never bothered to read that thing so...yeah, that would have been a major problem. Scribble. Scribble. For now, this worked. He was actually rather disappointed that he had no reply from Miss Cambridge. But seeing how busy and diligent she was being taking her notes made up for it. Slightly. Quote: Originally Posted by DecemberMoon Unsure if someone else had already said her answer or not, Eliza said hers quietly after she raised her hand. "Professor, Hydras is visible in December. The water snake," she put her hand down, but then she had a thought. "Erm, Professor? Why isn't the Sagittarius constellation visible in December? Since...it's related to December birthdays?" Not saying the actual word astrology out loud. Nope, never. But it was a valid question, she thought. This one....was confusing the noble art of Astronomy with Astrology. He could feel his blood boiling and his eyes narrowed for a moment as most of his happiness was zapped from him. Astrology, the entire concept, was like a dementor to the man. "Because that has little to do with real science," he said while trying to avoid using the word truth in there. Although she was lucky that the Zodiac was actually extremely important to historical astronomy."Sagittarius is is high in the daylight sky late December early January, but just not visible at night due to the earth's rotation. However, it is during this time that the Sun passes through the constellation and why it is still relevant." Quote: Originally Posted by Cassirin Oh, he knew this one, especially because Mo and West had used Cassiopeia last term in making their own asterism. His face fell for a moment before Mo's hand shot in the air. No reason to think on that with anything other than fondness or whatever. Right? "What about Cepheus, Professor? It actually falls between Cassiopeia and the Little Dipper." And had once been part of a lovely asterism that looked like a Bludger and bat. "Excellent, Mr. Branxton," he nodded. Up on the list the constellation went! Quote: Originally Posted by THE Govoni Blink. All this excitement from the Professor was doing his head in. So, rubbing at his face some, Dylan sat up a bit straighter in his seat...shrugging. "Sir, it's religious significance...Am I allowed to talk about that here?" There was an extremely curious look on his face as he asked that question... ...but to answer the more recent inquiry..."One of the Zodiac constellations, Aries? 'Arietis' is it's proper name, I think." He knew because he'd just made all those Zodiac cups for Professor Elwood...Serious study had went into their making... "Oh, no, best not discuss that here," he said with a small shake of the head. He preferred to keep that talk out of the classroom - as did his colleagues. Of course it already seemed as though the Slytherin captain was aware of this policy. Airey had rather been hoping it had held some other significance, however. Pity. "Aries, yes, very good." Quote: Originally Posted by Emms As the Professor asked the class to name other constellations that they would expect to find out near Polaris. The blonde Snake pursed her lips as she tried to recall the poster of constellations. Of course, there was Cassiopeia, Ursa Minor, and Ursa Major but what else was there? She felt as if one of the other constellations (other than Cassiopeia) near Polaris began with C.. Camelpolaris? Camelopolaris? Camelopodalis? she thought. No, no, that didn't sound familiar at all. All of a sudden, her eyes widened with realization. Aha! Camelopardalis! That was the name of it. But now the question was whether or not this constellation was close to Polaris. She began to doubt herself again. Finally taking a risk, she raised her hand and decided to be vocal in the class for once. "I'm not sure whether this answer is correct but I do believe that Camelopardalis is near Polaris. Camelopardalis sort of looks like a girraffe and is usually seen near December 4th or 5th.. " said Jo with a nervous grin. Yep, she didn't feel confident about that answer at all. Oh well.... Airey's eyes LIT up and his smile could hardly be contained by his face. "Camelopardalis! YES! VERY GOOD! Very good indeed." It was a personal favorite of his due to the dates, or date rather, that the young Slytherin had mentioned. "Very good, Miss Goyle!" Quote: Originally Posted by fanficfanatict SO Ascanius completely disregarded his question, the sparkly!glitter!Professor!man, and asked a question of his own, "Professor? Does the castle have wifi reception?" It would explain the GPS question he had from earlier. Huh. And with that, he leaned back in his seat and waited. Well, c'mon. He didn't have all day, guy. Answer the question. And his good mood from the she-snake's answer was just dementor-ed away by this one. Had he not been paying attention to the lesson why he had explicitly said that muggle things would not work here? Not to mention wifi had little to do with the question he had just asked. Airey's brow twitched in agitation. "If you are going to look something up I suggest you use your textbook, Mr. Stark," he said while flicking his wand and levitating it in the boy's face to the constellation section. "Minus 5 points for not only wandering severely off topic, but for not paying attention in class." Quote: Originally Posted by McFeisty Raising her hand. ”Professor, the constellation Draco is nearby I do believe” what it was a common name too – so yeah. That was an interesting thing. Why were so many wizards named after actual constellations? "Draco is indeed visible this time of year," he said with a small nod, still obviously agitated by the previous boy and his off topic question. Quote: Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl "Is Aquarius one?" she asked/answered after raising her hand. "It is! Very good, Miss Greenwell," he said, still not in the best of moods as her suggested constellation was added to the list. Looking around to see if there were anymore hands in the air, which there were not, he stepped aside from the board and tapped it with his wand to draw attention to it. "I would like you all to now please take a look at the board. Please note that this list is by no means complete and there are still many constellations visible in tonight's sky that no one mentioned. I will add just a few more of those to the list." Quote: Originally Posted by blackboard Visible Constellations in December in the Northern Hemisphere Andromeda Aries Auriga Camelopardalis Capricorn Cetus Cepheus Corona Borealis Cygnus Equuleus Eridanus Fornax Hercules Lyra Pegasus Perseus Pisces Taurus Five Circumpolar Constellations in the Northern Hemisphere Ursa Major Ursa Minor Draco Cassiopeia Cepheus "One constellation in particular that was not mentioned but I would like you to remember is Cepheus. It is the fifth constellation of the five circumpolar constellations and named after Cepheus, King of Aethiopia in Greek mythology." Turning to look at the board for a moment to look over the list, he gave it a reaffirming nod and then turned back to the class. "Now, as we have already discussed, Polaris is our indicator for north. Once you have spotted it you need only go in a clockwise fashion and use one of my personal favorite mnemonics to find the other directions. The mnemonic goes 'Never Eat Soggy Waffles' and represents North, South, East, and West. Therefore, in theory, once you have found Polaris you can now find all the other directions and therefor navigate the world without a map in your hands." And hopefully not get lost. Alright. Enough talk and theory. Time to get down to the good stuff. "We will spend the rest of the lesson doing just that, finding Polaris and its surrounding constellations and a few other celestial bodies." Like planets. "However, to do so I had intended on you all using telescopes as some of the planets and constellations may be very hard to see with the naked eye. Unfortunately....those were repossessed recently by goblins, so we are going to have to go with plan B." WHICH WAS SO MUCH MORE LEGENDARY THAN TELESCOPES. "Older students may be familiar with the Telescope Focusing Charm, Lens Focalis. We will be using a variation of that charm today..." Pause for effect. "On our own eyes." Pretty cool, huh? "The wand movement is the same, a simple swish followed by a tap on your closed eyelids. The incantation is Oculo Focalis. First years and those who are uncomfortable with charmswork should not be worried. You will not harm your eyesight by not performing the spell properly." So breathe kids. Breeeeeeeeathe. "One word of caution. Extended use of this spell WILL cause tiredness and red eyes. Sort of think of how one looks after not sleeping properly. Bags under the eyes is also a common side effect." The professor then tapped his desk and summoned a stack of posters from the drawer when he then levitated around the classroom. SPOILER!!: the poster "You may work alone or with a partner to practice the charm. What I want you to do first is to test your eyesight using this muggle eye chart. Place the poster on the wall and then stand back various distances to test how well you can see and then attempt the charm to see if there is a difference. Once you all have gotten the hang of things we will move on to looking at actual stars. You may begin." OOC: Just as Professor Flamsteed said, you can do this activity alone or pair up with someone else. For full credit you should have a minimum of 3 posts. Remember that this charm will not cause any serious eye damage. Your character MAY experience a slight burning sensation or tiredness in the eyes, but nothing too extreme. Please number your posts to make it easier for me. Pretty please with a cherry on top? I will hopefully post the second part of the activity tomorrow morning GMT+9 before I have to take my little man to the hospital for his shots, but you will still be allowed to continue this activity if you have not completed it so don't worry __________________ When you're stuck in a moment and your spark has been stolen .................................................. ........... this is our time to own it, so own it..................................... baby we were born with fire and gold in our eyes