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sweetpinkpixie · 06-02-2013, 10:34 PM

Entering the Astronomy classroom you see Professor Flamsteed ~~standing~~ dancing his own version of the moonwalk and humming some nonsensical tune. Perhaps he is doing all this to attempt to keep warm as there is a brisk December chill in the classroom? The ridiculously goofy grin on his face may imply otherwise. Hard to be so happy about the cold after all. The telescopes that are usually around the classroom for student use are now gone thanks to those greedy goblins, but they thankfully left your desks and chairs - which are still in Professor Flamsteed's preferred semi circle formation. There are no covered objects this time around, just the empty blackboard and a rather large rolled up piece of parchment leaning against it.

Come on in and have a seat - or join the professor in dancing. We are pretty sure he won't mind.

⌦Lesson Progression
▸ question 1 :: You're lost in the Forbidden Forest...WHATDOYOUDO?!
▸ question 2 :: Why Polaris out of all the stars?
▸ question 3 :: What other constellations may we see in the December night sky?
▸ activity 1 :: Oculo Focalis practice
▸ activity 2 :: stargazing activity
▸ activity update :: class will be ending "soon"

OOC: Don't worry! Your time conversion skills are not wonky. I DID open the tread up early. Please be sure you are familiar with Professor Flamsteed's rules BEFORE you post in this lesson. We will know if you haven't read them! All SnitchSeeker site rules apply.

THIS LESSON HAS OFFICIALLY STARTED. Please do not post your character arriving late and simply pretend as if you have been here all along.

Bazinga · 06-05-2013, 04:30 PM

Seeing the look Minerva averted her eyes to her desk. She knew she was out of line and she was never out of line with professors. What had come over her.. oh yeah that... Sighing she started to feel bad, it wasn't Flamsteeds fault even thought she had been now victim to two of his brain storms. It wasn't even Firths, so she didn't want to throw him under the bus. No when it got down to it there was only one person that made this harmless joke harmful.

Trying to push it out of her mind she needed to focus on class, she had been excited ~~before the expulsion and detention~~ to come to this class. She had been doing extra reading and wanted to prove that she was trying harder, but now she just couldn't get in the mood.

Listening to the next question Minerva put her hand up, "I was reading professor that the Polaris is actually closer to our solar system then other stars. It brightens and dimes within a four day period and since it doesn't rotate like other stars, it makes it easier for us to find in the sky and help guide us north." She put her hand down hoping that her focus wasn't to off that she screwed up what she had read.

LilFox06 · 06-05-2013, 04:32 PM

Pfft. The Professor was no fun. Burning down the forest sounded like a good idea. Who needed those giant spiders living inside anyway? And centaurs... the could live in the castle if they needed to. It would probably be kind of fun to have them around, actually.

Oh. New question.

Anya raised her hand. "Because it's bright and it's easy to spot." she said with a firm nod. "It certainly wouldn't have been chosen because it's the best constellation. Because it isn't. A small pot and a baby bear are not romantic."

In fact, she could consult her list and let the Professor know its actual rating on the romance scale. True story.

DecemberMoon · 06-05-2013, 08:02 PM

So they'd all been right, pretty much. She tried to make a mental note of the other fellow tree climbers. And though the thought scared her a bit, it was almost a thrilling notion now to get a group of people to rough it in the Forbidden Forest. Hm....what all would we need to take... she wondered, tapping her chin with her forefinger. But oh, Polaris? Special? Well... She didn't know all of the reasons, but the basic one was pretty obvious.

"Polaris is special because, like everyone pretty much said, it doesn't change positions in the sky like the other stars do, which makes it useful for navigation. The other stars rotate and sometimes don't even show up at all at certain times of the year. So its consistency is what makes it unique." She wondered if there were other stars that stayed relatively the same too and somehow Polaris got all of the credit.

Weasley174 · 06-05-2013, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

“Now, before we get into identifying Polaris and its surrounding constellations, what is it about this particular star that makes it special? Why would we pick this one star out of all the others to use as our guide?”

Laura looked at the Professor and smiled. "Is this star one that stay near the north or south pole and that is why it is called the Polaris star?" Laura was guessing here, she wasn't sure.

itsjustjesse · 06-05-2013, 08:23 PM

Saying you would wait – apparently meant you got pointed at…but what did the pointing mean? Probably exactly when Blue had said. Eaten. That was the gist of it in a sense. Outside in the forbidden forest meant you’d be some things tasty snack. Possibly even a water demon’s snack.

She didn’t want to know really what was out there – but apparently they were going to travel using point me! And well – muggle charmed things. And then Professor Flamsteed was speaking in what sounded like tongues to her. What was NASA and what were Global positiony-whatsits? BLINKBLINKSTARE.

Hand!UP.

“Polaris is very important to the fields of astrology and astronomy because its not only classed as a Cepheid – or basically a very luminous and visible star. Because of how close and bright it is its often used as a way to measure distances in our galaxy” she beamed. Yeah what? The claw read things. And look at that - she didn't even have a textbook in front of her.

TakemetotheBurrow · 06-05-2013, 08:47 PM

The grin and the moonwalk from Airey was appreciated and it earned him a small smile from Miss Ella Bishops. She liked the idea of knowing lots about the North Star just in case. Y'know...situations ever came up where she'd need it. Honestly though, she wouldn't be wandering in the woods at night anytime soon.

Raising her hand, Ella offered, "The North star is fixed, isn't it? I mean it hardly moves and thus, it's easily located and a point of reference. Plus it's super bright so it's really easy to spot, even in a place where the sky doesn't get very bright." Or when the moon is very full or something.

Emzily · 06-05-2013, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

“Now, before we get into identifying Polaris and its surrounding constellations, what is it about this particular star that makes it special? Why would we pick this one star out of all the others to use as our guide?”

Come ooon, everyone knew about the north star. Not that Theo particularly believed in it prior to this lesson, but he still knew all about it. So, he raised his hand effortlessly, "It's brighter than the others." He said briefly. That alone must give it some sort of significance.

He'd never heard of Polaris, though, hmmmmmm...

AlwaysSnapesGirl · 06-05-2013, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

“Now, before we get into identifying Polaris and its surrounding constellations, what is it about this particular star that makes it special? Why would we pick this one star out of all the others to use as our guide?”

Penelope didn't have much to add that hadn't been said on the last question, so she'd kept her hand down and simply listened. Or sorta listened. It was hard to always focus completely on class stuff. Maybe that was just her though.

And this one...yeah, she didn't have much to add that hadn't been said here too. Except...well, she had something to say. Or ask. Sorta. Hand up. "Why not pick that one?" Not a legit answer to the question but...yeah, that was the best she had. Could be a legit question though? She shrugged. He didn't really have to answer.

Govoni · 06-05-2013, 11:08 PM

Dylan was listening. He was. North Star...and all that. Polaris...

He was kinda taking it all in right now, though...Listening to his peers and thinking about their answers and guesses. He knew about the North Star, of course. He was half-muggle. His dad had talked about it before..."Sir, it's not the brightest..." He offered looks to a few people. "...but it has severe muggle significance. Also, it's it a part of the 'Little Dipper'?" Dylan pondered a minute...He couldn't remember.

"Actually....it might be the 'Big Dipper'..." The facts were fuzzy to him...It'd been a while since he'd researched anything about it. "It's in the handle of one of those."

Expecto-Penguin · 06-06-2013, 12:02 AM

Kace was happy he got the answer right. Then he heard one student's answer about hugging a tree. He found that quite funny. Kace would probably do the same thing.

When Kace was thinking about the professor's question, he remembered when his mom pointed the star out when he was little. She told him that he could always find his way home by finding the brightest star, the north star. Then Kace came up with his answer.

"Professor what makes this star special is it is the brightest star out of all of them, well supposedly it should be, in the sky. It is the easiest one to navigate if you are really looking in the sky particularly in the north direction." He nodded from what he knew from what his mother told him.

Then he heard the fellow Slytherin quidditch captain's answer about asking if it part of the little dipper. He wondered if that was true too.

lazykitty · 06-06-2013, 12:10 AM

Of course Sky had been listening. She just feel like being a parrot and repeating answers. That got old fast. But this second question...... maybe she could add something interesting to the conversation now? She thought about what she knew about the North Star. Which was actually quite a bit. "Isn't it because, while the other stars change positions throughout the night, the North Star is basically stationary?" Of course, the stars weren't really moving, it was just Earth's rotation making it seem like they were. But the professor knew that so.....

Cassirin · 06-06-2013, 02:06 AM

Since all the good answers were gone, Mo turned his head to watch the spot the professor was pointing at and tried very hard not to be a sulker. He had answered the professor's question - mentioned using stars just like his classmates. Just because he also knew about survival didn't mean it was a bad answer. It was a MORE answer, which was the only type of answer Mo knew how to give really.

"What do they do in the Southern Hemisphere?"

TeafortheSoul · 06-06-2013, 02:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Since all the good answers were gone, Mo turned his head to watch the spot the professor was pointing at and tried very hard not to be a sulker. He had answered the professor's question - mentioned using stars just like his classmates. Just because he also knew about survival didn't mean it was a bad answer. It was a MORE answer, which was the only type of answer Mo knew how to give really.

"What do they do in the Southern Hemisphere?"

Oh oh West knew that! He actually beamed at Mo (sort of forgetting himself for a moment, on account of astronomy was exciting).

"They look for the Southern Cross! It moves around the sky but if you follow the bottom bit of the cross with your eye it lines up with the South Celestial Pole, and then you know what way south is! Its sort of like a straight line from the bottom of the cross like.... around four times the length of the Southern Cross, and then there's these other two stars called Pointers and you can use them to sort of tell if you're doing it right too, on account of they all rotate around the axis and always point at it." West had never seen it for real, just in books, but it was a question that had interested him TOO, so he waved his hand around eagerly as he explained it to.... Mo. Oh. Mo. He stopped and sort of smiled tentatively. Err.

Yeah.

Cassirin · 06-06-2013, 03:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

Oh oh West knew that! He actually beamed at Mo (sort of forgetting himself for a moment, on account of astronomy was exciting).

"They look for the Southern Cross! It moves around the sky but if you follow the bottom bit of the cross with your eye it lines up with the South Celestial Pole, and then you know what way south is! Its sort of like a straight line from the bottom of the cross like.... around four times the length of the Southern Cross, and then there's these other two stars called Pointers and you can use them to sort of tell if you're doing it right too, on account of they all rotate around the axis and always point at it." West had never seen it for real, just in books, but it was a question that had interested him TOO, so he waved his hand around eagerly as he explained it to.... Mo. Oh. Mo. He stopped and sort of smiled tentatively. Err.

Yeah.

Oh, West was answering. Mo swiveled his body to face West as the other boy explained the Southern Cross to him. It was hard to picture exactly what he meant, but he generally got the idea... not really a fixed point, but fixed enough that it could assist in navigation.

He nodded along as West spoke. "The Southern Cross. Should have figured you'd know about it. Thanks, mate," he smiled briefly before turning his attention back to the professor.

sweetpinkpixie · 06-06-2013, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iBeJenn

Oh, good question. "Is it because it's the star that leads to Neverland?" Melanie asked, raising her hand. Because that could be the star and then it would all finally make sense. People wanted to go to Neverland which was why they were following the star - not because they were lost.

Airey felt like both hitting his head against the wall and laughing at Miss Sung's response. "Keep wishing on those shooting stars, Miss Sung," he said in a dry sarcastic tone. Hopefully everyone got the joke here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

"Polaris is special on account of it never rises or sets, so its always there all year around, and also its spot where it is nearly lines up perfect with the Earth's axis. I read that in 20 years it'll almost be as perfect as it will get actually. Its not always been the North Star though, and won't always be either." West just thought that was worth mentioning. Because all those things made it special and interesting. So it was special NOW anyways.

OH OH OH! Now the smile was back on the man's face and there was even more EXCITED pointing going on. "YES....YES! Excellent Mr. Odessa!" he praised, still pointing to the boy. "I hope all of you were paying attention, because Mr. Odessa brought up some very important points that I would like to elaborate on a bit." And yes, he was still pointing at the young Slytherin. Pointing and doing so with an almost obnoxious enthusiasm. "The earth, wobbles and spins like a top about its axis. This is called precession and it takes about 26,000 years or so to complete a cycle. It is because of precession that Polaris has not always been our North Star - which we also refer to as a pole star. In fact, Thuban was the pole star in 3000 BC. Vega was the in 12,000 BC and will be Pole Star again in 14,000 AD." He paused here for a moment and finally ceased his pointing to sort of scurry back to the center of the semi circle of desks. It was times like this that he wished he had held his lesson in the planetarium. He could have actually shown them some of this movement. Or he could always use a charm...hmmm...

RIGHT! Back to giving more details.

"In fact, twenty years from now it is estimated that the star Gamma Cephei will become closer to the northern celestial pole than Polaris is. Yes, Polaris will be in as perfect position as it will ever be, but perhaps it's reign will soon come to an end?" Poor Polaris. Kicked out of its status just like Pluto had been. "Although that time is not estimated to come until about 5200 AD. Not to fear though, Polaris will once again become the north pole star in 27800 AD."

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

T
"It's because it's not like all the other stars that move around in the sky and fall in different places depending on the time of the year. No matter what month it is it'll always be right there for you to identify because it's a supposedly fixed point, which is good when you think about it. Can you imagine getting lost in like June if the star only came out in December???"

Heh, bet they'd go looking for a centaur's help then.

Airey was practically bouncing now thanks to Mr. Odessa and his response - which had the wheels in his head turning a million miles per second - and he all but pranced over to Miss Cambridge's seat. "Preciselllllllllllly," he sang.

One happy astronomer over here folks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJ ExpelliarMOOSE

And now they were talking about some Polar bears? "uh...Professor, the only thing Polar Bears have to do with Directions is in that muggle movie the Golden Compass...or was it a book?"He was going in the right direction in this class yeah? He was sure he'd get lost in it right away.

Polar bears? Who said anything about polar bears? Oh you funny Head Boy you! Airey pranced over to him and RUFFLED his hair. "Oh silly you, Mr. Gunter."

Ruffle ruffle ruffle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Jory was about to raise his hand when Oakey's answer happened. He stifled a laugh. Polar Bears! Finally getting a grip of himself, Jory raised his hand. "Polaris is also called the Guiding Star. It shines the brightest of all the others in the Ursa Minor. It is a northern pole star. And I suppose we use it because of that. Like a compass's needle always points to north, Polaris is in the north.'' He supposed that made some sense.

"GLAD you brought up brightness! Polaris IS the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor, but it is certainly NOT the brightest star in our night sky," he said with a wide grin and some head bobbling. "Polaris is a moderately bright star. The brightest star in our sky, however, is something completely different." Pause and slight wiggly eyebrows towards the seventh year. "Care to venture a guess?"

That was really a question to anyone who thought they had an answer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shanners

"It's a Pole Star, which in essence in the same as the word Polaris, but that means it's pretty much where the North Pole is? And that's not growing legs and going for a hike, so the star is going to stay exactly where it is, right? It's like glued!" You know, because of that axis thing that West had mentioned.

Smiiiiiiiiiiile for the adorable little Hufflepuff! "Yes and no," he said in response to her. "As Mr. Odessa pointed out and I elaborated on, Polaris has not and won't always be a pole star because of the way the earth wobbles on its axis. BUT! For the sake of our lifetimes, your definition is a sound one." Small pause. "And Polaris is actually an ellipsis for the Latin stella polaris meaning 'pole star' and has many MANY names. In fact, Polaris is even referenced in old English runes poetry. In the Old English rune poem, the Tiwaz rune is compared to the pole star."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meizzner

Nigel was pretty sure why the would pick that star. But he was having a good day and wanted to have a little fun. He still was thinking about those awesome ids that were not real. Man he wished they were.

"Because it leads to Trenzalore."

Nigel was pretty sure Flamsteed had no idea what planet that was.

Still humming and sort of dancing his way around the room, Airey stopped midstep with Mr. Barrington's answer.

Ravenclaw say what?

"Come again? What is this...Trenzalore you speak of?" Sweet solstice was he about to be taught something new by a student?!

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemon

Did everyone hear that? She got a funny little Airey bounce and moonwalk thing, and a FANTASTIC.

Alice beamed and didn't bother putting too much effort into her next answer, because she'd already given a FANTASTIC one and therefore did not need to. "Because it's the only star at the end of the Little Dipper's handle in the constellation Ursa Minor, the Little Bear," she spouted, hand up again, recycling her old answer for the first question. That made it unique, didn't it? No other star was at the end of the Little Dipper, as far as she was concerned.

She didn't know why it was special.

But smarter people were telling Aireyhead that, so it was okay. And stuff.

Still with a very perplexed look on his face from the previous response, Airey turned his attention to Miss Fischer and chuckled. "Would hardly be an END if there were multiple stars now, would it?" HAHAHA. He made himself laugh. "True, but that is not the only thing that makes Polaris special."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonea

The young girl raised her hand and spoke. “I think that this star is special because its shining more brightly than the other stars and so you will find it better than all the other stars? And because the star is always on the same place and it is not moving, you can use it?” This was really a BIG guess but she hoped that she was right and if not, than she had tried it!

AHA! There was the common misconception he was talking about. "That IS what many people believe, but Polaris is not the brightest star in our sky, let alone the night sky. However, your second notion is spot on." So good for you, Miss Duvessa. He was also very pleased with her progress on her star project, but just couldn't say so right now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princesspower

"Maybe its currently the closest star to the northpole?" Sarah put in after raising her hand, "yet it is predicted that in about twenty years it will be at its closest and then after it it will move away and we will have no Northern Star until 4000". Sarah said. Not that she had to worried as she had her wand and also there was another star (Gamma Cephei)that could take its place.

Nod nod, slight frown, more nodding. Same thoughts as Mr. Odessa. Some more nodding. "While one could argue that Polaris will no longer be a TRUE pole star, we would have to leave it up to the astronomers and Astronomer Royal of that age to determine whether or not we are truly without a north star." Which could very well be the man standing right in front of you all.

Scary thought?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syd

Well, it seemed like most people before him had answered the question pretty well. Jake still raised his hand, though, after the person before him was done talking. He had something to add. "Also, it's really easy to find. So it's not like you have to be an Astronomy expert to use it. If you know Ursa Major... or Minor, then you can easily find the North Star and find north." And most people would agree that easy was a good thing. Nobody liked effort. Except for maybe Ravenclaws.

OH! More pointing. BIG pointing! EXCITED POINTING!

Not an idea that he had thought about, but still a VERY good point!

"YES! This IS a very interesting thing to note! It is almost as though the heavens WANT to assist us in our navigation through space and time, making things easy for us to locate in the night sky." AWESOME POINTS TO YOU, MR. KELLER!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga

Listening to the next question Minerva put her hand up, "I was reading professor that the Polaris is actually closer to our solar system then other stars. It brightens and dimes within a four day period and since it doesn't rotate like other stars, it makes it easier for us to find in the sky and help guide us north." She put her hand down hoping that her focus wasn't to off that she screwed up what she had read.

GOOD FOR YOU, MISS WHEATBORN! So the girl really was making the effort and doing some extra reading. Bravo! Or would it be brava? Brava!

"Excellent, Miss Wheatborn!" he applauded the Hufflepuff. "Studies back in 2012 that were published in Astrophysical Journal Letters explained it may be lightyears upon lightyears closer to us than we initially thought." Thumbs up to you young lady!

Quote:

Originally Posted by LilFox06

Anya raised her hand. "Because it's bright and it's easy to spot." she said with a firm nod. "It certainly wouldn't have been chosen because it's the best constellation. Because it isn't. A small pot and a baby bear are not romantic."

In fact, she could consult her list and let the Professor know its actual rating on the romance scale. True story.

Aw, look at that. Two Gryffindor lovebirds sort of sharing the same opinion on the same star. They better keep snogging to outside of the classroom though. WATCHING!

"Brightness is not really a factor, but it IS rather easy to spot once you know how to find it," he agreed. Not romantic? Was the North Star supposed to be so? Seemed sort of silly for a guiding star to be romantic. Wouldn't that imply that one's real sense of direction was based on romance? Ew. Laaaaaaaaaaaaaame. "Have you done any reading on the mythologies surrounding the constellation? I suggest doing some reading on the Greek myths of Callisto and Arcas."

Quote:

Originally Posted by DecemberMoon

"Polaris is special because, like everyone pretty much said, it doesn't change positions in the sky like the other stars do, which makes it useful for navigation. The other stars rotate and sometimes don't even show up at all at certain times of the year. So its consistency is what makes it unique." She wondered if there were other stars that stayed relatively the same too and somehow Polaris got all of the credit.

POINTING! MORE EXCITED POINTING! "Very good, Miss Dawnsel!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry174

Laura looked at the Professor and smiled. "Is this star one that stay near the north or south pole and that is why it is called the Polaris star?" Laura was guessing here, she wasn't sure.

"Never the south pole," he said shaking his head while still bouncing around a bit. "And to be more specific, it is the star that is nearly in a direct line with the axis of the Earth's rotation 'above' the North Pole."

Quote:

Originally Posted by McFeisty

“Polaris is very important to the fields of astrology and astronomy because its not only classed as a Cepheid – or basically a very luminous and visible star. Because of how close and bright it is its often used as a way to measure distances in our galaxy” she beamed. Yeah what? The claw read things. And look at that - she didn't even have a textbook in front of her.

.........................OBVIOUS EYE TWITCH.

Did the Ravenclaw REALLY have to mention that RUBBISH of a subject in the holy sanctuary that was the Astronomy Tower.

He ceased his bouncing and sort of just loomed over her for a while. "Do not mention astrology in this classroom again, is that clear?" he said in as calm a voice as he could muster. And now he was going to stand up straight again.

And sorry kid, he wasn't going to respond to the rest of your answer. Pity, it had been good too. Should remember that the man despises astrology and even mentions so in his class rules.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

Raising her hand, Ella offered, "The North star is fixed, isn't it? I mean it hardly moves and thus, it's easily located and a point of reference. Plus it's super bright so it's really easy to spot, even in a place where the sky doesn't get very bright." Or when the moon is very full or something.

Okay. BACK TO BOUNCING AND POINTING! "It IS as far as the night sky is concerned. In FACT," he said while pointing outside - once again to nothing in particular. "...Polaris' name in Sanskrit, dhruva tāra, literally translates to 'fixed star'."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emzily

Come ooon, everyone knew about the north star. Not that Theo particularly believed in it prior to this lesson, but he still knew all about it. So, he raised his hand effortlessly, "It's brighter than the others." He said briefly. That alone must give it some sort of significance.

He'd never heard of Polaris, though, hmmmmmm...

"Actually, Mr. Kinsley, Polaris is ranked number 45 in the list of stars based on their average apparent magnitudes in the visible spectrum as seen from Earth," he said with a small grin.

That question about which star was the brightest was still up for grabs though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl

And this one...yeah, she didn't have much to add that hadn't been said here too. Except...well, she had something to say. Or ask. Sorta. Hand up. "Why not pick that one?" Not a legit answer to the question but...yeah, that was the best she had. Could be a legit question though? She shrugged. He didn't really have to answer.

Oh! Look at that! Miss Penelope was being all sorts of clever here! "EXCELLENT thinking, Miss Greenwell. Why not indeed! Based on everything that your classmates have said it is quite obvious as to why it was selected." Clever little Gryffindor right there. Yep.

Quote:

Originally Posted by THE Govoni

Dylan was listening. He was. North Star...and all that. Polaris...

He was kinda taking it all in right now, though...Listening to his peers and thinking about their answers and guesses. He knew about the North Star, of course. He was half-muggle. His dad had talked about it before..."Sir, it's not the brightest..." He offered looks to a few people. "...but it has severe muggle significance. Also, it's it a part of the 'Little Dipper'?" Dylan pondered a minute...He couldn't remember.

"Actually....it might be the 'Big Dipper'..." The facts were fuzzy to him...It'd been a while since he'd researched anything about it. "It's in the handle of one of those."

OOOOOOH! Muggle significance! "Would you care to expand on that?" he asked the quidditch captain, his interest perked. He, of course, knew some bits and pieces, but he was curious as to what the boy would bring to the table. "And it is a part of the 'Little Dipper' which is also known as Ursa Minor." He understood how one could get the two all mixed up. Little and Big. Major and Minor. All that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hpfan18

"Professor what makes this star special is it is the brightest star out of all of them, well supposedly it should be, in the sky. It is the easiest one to navigate if you are really looking in the sky particularly in the north direction." He nodded from what he knew from what his mother told him.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOPE!" Airey sang while shaking his index finger in the boy's face. "Certainly NOT the brightest star." But he had said that several times already, so no need to go into that more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazykitty

Of course Sky had been listening. She just feel like being a parrot and repeating answers. That got old fast. But this second question...... maybe she could add something interesting to the conversation now? She thought about what she knew about the North Star. Which was actually quite a bit. "Isn't it because, while the other stars change positions throughout the night, the North Star is basically stationary?" Of course, the stars weren't really moving, it was just Earth's rotation making it seem like they were. But the professor knew that so.....

OH WE WERE BACK TO POINTING AND GETTING ALL EXCITED NOW! "VERY GOOD! YES! In fact I have a chart of this that I will put up in just a second..."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Since all the good answers were gone, Mo turned his head to watch the spot the professor was pointing at and tried very hard not to be a sulker. He had answered the professor's question - mentioned using stars just like his classmates. Just because he also knew about survival didn't mean it was a bad answer. It was a MORE answer, which was the only type of answer Mo knew how to give really.

"What do they do in the Southern Hemisphere?"

"That is an excellent question, Mr. Branxton!" he said, turning his index finger towards the Ravenclaw to keep on pointing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

Oh oh West knew that! He actually beamed at Mo (sort of forgetting himself for a moment, on account of astronomy was exciting).

"They look for the Southern Cross! It moves around the sky but if you follow the bottom bit of the cross with your eye it lines up with the South Celestial Pole, and then you know what way south is! Its sort of like a straight line from the bottom of the cross like.... around four times the length of the Southern Cross, and then there's these other two stars called Pointers and you can use them to sort of tell if you're doing it right too, on account of they all rotate around the axis and always point at it." West had never seen it for real, just in books, but it was a question that had interested him TOO, so he waved his hand around eagerly as he explained it to.... Mo. Oh. Mo. He stopped and sort of smiled tentatively. Err.

Yeah.

But before he really could open his mouth to answer, Mr. Odessa chimed in and explained things. "They do it like that," he said with a nod and a few thumb jabs in the Slytherin's direction.

Hopefully everyone was taking notes on everything because there was A LOT of GOOD information to be had.

"As many of you mentioned, Polaris has a fixed potion in the night sky and all stars appear to rotate around it due to its location being nearly right on the axis of the earth which is true north, not magnetic north. There is a difference," he explained while giving the blackboard a quick tap. "It is because of the earth's spin on its axis that the stars appear to travel across the night sky in circular arcs around Polaris and makes it an ideal point of reference to navigate from."

As soon as he tapped the board, two charts appeared side by side to offer students a visual reference.

SPOILER!!: chart 1

"As many mentioned, the easiest way to find Polaris is by using the asterism called the Big Dipper located within the in the constellation Ursa Major as a point of reference. What many forget to mention is that there is another constellation that can aid us in finding Polaris and that is Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia is has an easy to recognize 'W' shaped and is located across from Polaris from the Big Dipper. It's 'W' points right at the north star, so it is another means of finding and checking. It will always be on the opposite side of Polaris and the Big Dipper and therefore often high in the sky. The is especially useful when the Big Dipper is low on the horizon or obscured from view." He returned to the board and gave it another small tap to reveal another chart.

SPOILER!!: chart 2

See? Rather easy to find the star once one know what they were looking for.

"So we know that Cassiopeia, Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor are all constellations that revolve around Polaris. Given that it is December, what other constellations should you expect to find?" He would keep a running list.

OOC: OBVIOUSLY this took longer than my expected timeframe, but partly that is because you all gave such great answers! So thank you! This lesson will continue sometime tomorrow GMT+9 (roughly 24 hours from now?)

PLEASE ONLY LIST ONE CONSTELLATION. Listing more than one will not earn you more participation points and will only take away from others who wish to answer

TeafortheSoul · 06-06-2013, 06:18 AM

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.

lazykitty · 06-06-2013, 06:42 AM

"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....

cheeseStrings · 06-06-2013, 06:55 AM

Natalie has trouble in finding her stuff across the rooms, much less finding constellations in the sky. And the stars move, that makes the whole searching point a lot harder. And there's another reason to attend classes; to know more, to learn, and to have fun while doing so.

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?"

Tazzie · 06-06-2013, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

"So we know that Cassiopeia, Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor are all constellations that revolve around Polaris. Given that it is December, what other constellations should you expect to find?" He would keep a running list.

Well, that was a lot to take in. The brunette's eyes squinted and fleeted from the Professor to the the charts he was presenting to the class and back again as the explanations continued. He shared so many information that it was hard to keep up. Hopefully, she would be able to retain most of it.

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."

Weasley174 · 06-06-2013, 09:11 AM

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.

Princesspower · 06-06-2013, 09:39 AM

SPOILER!!: sweetpinkpixie

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.

oh its Erik ok · 06-06-2013, 01:43 PM

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.

FearlessLeader19 · 06-06-2013, 04:22 PM

Quote:

"GLAD you brought up brightness! Polaris IS the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor, but it is certainly NOT the brightest star in our night sky," he said with a wide grin and some head bobbling. "Polaris is a moderately bright star. The brightest star in our sky, however, is something completely different." Pause and slight wiggly eyebrows towards the seventh year. "Care to venture a guess?"

That was really a question to anyone who thought they had an answer.

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.

Quote:

"So we know that Cassiopeia, Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor are all constellations that revolve around Polaris. Given that it is December, what other constellations should you expect to find?" He would keep a running list.

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.

TakemetotheBurrow · 06-06-2013, 04:34 PM

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.

Expecto-Penguin · 06-06-2013, 04:56 PM

Ooooh they were talking about constellations now? He beamed! He loved learning about them. Kace was actually taking notes about the North Star. At least he knew it wasn't the brightest star out there in the sky as the Professor sang it in front of him. He couldn't help but giggle at that.

Then he remembered when he saw the constellation in the sky with his sister back in the fall...what was it?? He remembered it was a winged horse then he got it!

"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.

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