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Astronomy Lesson One : TBA The nice April weather is a welcome change to the winter chill that has surrounded the high tower for months. The charms to keep it away from the space have been tuned down thanks to the appearance of full spring. The night sky outside the windows darkened with the occasional grey cloud but thankfully its not much a deterrent for tonight's class. Upon entering the astronomy classroom for this evening’s lesson, the circular room near the top of the tower resembles how it usually looks. The only difference is a series of charmed pictures of the night sky that are placed occasionally along the stone walls. If you look at one long enough, you might notice what at first looks like the streak of a meteor moving across them much like what was seen during the meteor shower activities held earlier in the year, but the eagle-eyed might notice a difference. Also on the professor’s desk lay a few covered boxes containing what might be needed for the lesson. No peeking as Professor Gert is in the classroom, standing between her desk and the door to greet students as they enter. But don't worry, you likely wont be waiting long to find out what the curly haired woman has in store. Soft hoots occasionally heard from the rafters above alert you to the presence of her familiar whose decided to visit for the moment. ooc: Hello and welcome to Astronomy. With the IC time of year, remember this isn't their first lesson. So come on in and the lesson will be moving on in about 24 hours to begin Lesson Progression: Question 1 Question 2 Mini Activity Main Activity Part 1 Main Activity Part 2 |
If Jude hadn’t decided to make a career out of performing arts, he’d have definitely chosen something in the Astronomy field. The subject was a natural for him and always made him happy. He almost felt bad about putting it on the back burner in his life. At least there was another lesson for him to enjoy in the meanwhile. “Good evening, Professor!’’ the seventh year chirped in greeting. The pictures stuck to the walls could not be missed, and he found himself quite mesmerised by the movements. But no, he wouldn’t be staring at them for too long, if you're wondering. There was no surprise on his part when he noted the boxes. Professors and their boxes seemed to be a trend for this academic year. |
Learning was all well and good, but Sophia absolutely preferred the nights when she could just hang out with her friends after supper. Astronomy wasn't too bad, she supposed, but she wished it could be in the daytime. She'd had a long day, and now she was sleepy. But instead of a nice relaxing evening of studying and chatting, she had to go to class...and stay awake during class. The first year stifled a yawn on her way into the classroom. "Hello, Professor Gert," she said, her voice unusually cheerful as she tried to compensate for the yawn. She eyed some of the photos on the wall as she made her way to her seat, but didn't pay too much attention. Frankly, the night skies all looked the same to her, unless there were clouds. As she settled into her seat, she stretched her arms overhead, sighed, and propped her chin up with her forearm. |
Desiree was so glad for the change in weather! The chilly winter temperatures combined with the nighttime hours always made her want to burrow into a blanket fort and go to sleep! Fortunately there was no such sleepiness tonight as she made her way to the astronomy tower. The first thing she noticed upon stepping inside was the charmed pictures along the walls. She stared at one of the pictures until she saw what looked like a shooting star streaking across the page. Ooh, pretty! The second thing she noticed? The hooting sound coming from the rafters. Oh hello, Mr. Owl, she thought, looking up to see if she could spot the owl. Speaking of which, was Professor Gert going to turn into an owl tonight too? That would be so cool! A lot cooler than turning into a wombat anyway. Owls were beautiful, dignified creatures; all wombats did was eat and burrow under things. “Hello, Professor Gert,” she greeted with a cheery smile. As she did so, she noticed the boxes on the professor’s desk. Ooh, what was in there? Eager to find out, she took her seat and greeted the other students who arrived before her (Jude & Sophia) with a friendly wave. |
SPOILER!!: Responses Eventually glancing at her watch and at the gathered students, Professor Gert figured it was about time to begin. “Now I noticed these beautiful pictures around the room have gotten your attention. And at first glance, they might appear as if they are ones that I might have taken on our campout during the Ursid meteor shower in December.” The arching balls of light mirroring the curvature of the earth. And she had taken photos then through the various telescopes that had been set up. “However, they aren’t even the same type of celestial object. These are all pictures of comets that I’ve either taken myself over the years or brought in from earlier showings.” Some of them did show their age as she had pulled them from archives to show a couple of the comets that hadn’t made it to earth in recent times for updated artwork. A shame really. “Now I would like you all to tell me…what are the differences between a meteor and a comet.” (ooc: Class has begun. Feel free to jump in even if you haven't previously posted, just dont RP them arriving unless you want consequences of being late. We'll move on in about 48 hours) |
SPOILER!!: Catch up to show what Brandon did while entering Brandon himself had understood that the pictures were not from the meteor shower he'd seen, but he didn't know that they were comets. He filed that information away. "Comets aren't really rocks, professor. They are made of ice and dust." That was the only difference he knew of, though he guessed that there were others. He looked at the pictures again, looking for a clue. And looking because they were pretty. |
Sophia gave Brandon a big smile when he sat down next to her, because having friends to sit by in class certainly made it more fun. She listened intently to his explanation of comets, then raised her hand to add on. "And meteors are comets on fire!" she said. That explained why they could see lots of meteors sometimes, and only one comet at a time. Fire in the night sky would be a lot easier to spot than...what was it Brandon had said? Ice and dust. |
While he was used to seeing students yawn during the Astronomy lessons {which was quite understanding}, Jude still couldn’t figure out at the same time why this was so. Like… Astronomy was the most exciting lesson! {Sorry, Hady!} No matter the time of these lessons, he’d always be wide awake. The Hufflepuff drew his attention back to the images on the walls again, once more studying them. Such pretty things they were, all celestial objects were in their own way. “To add to what Brandon said,’’ he began when called upon. “Comets orbit the sun and can vaporise when they get too close to it. Meteoroids are pieces of an asteroid or comet, and usually the pieces are small. But when the meteoroids get close to or enter the Earth's atmosphere, they're called meteors.” There was actually quite a bit more Jude wanted to add, including to Sophia's answer but there were still a bit of students left to contribute to the lesson. So he’ll just be here, quiet for now. |
Freddie probably could've taken a nap here with such beautiful sights in Astronomy with the star gazing that takes place in the night sky. But he felt energized now, having stayed up past the couple hours were he was feeling tired. But now it was question time. "Oh, Comets are something we look forward to seeing, while Meteors we sort of hope don't come our direction and wipe us out!" Freddie said. Professor Gert likely was looking for more technical differences, but this was the first thing that popped in his head, whether right or wrong. |
Between the cute little owl and the fun pictures on the walls, there was so much going on that Desiree had a hard time focusing as the lesson began. Reluctantly tearing her eyes away from the nearest picture, she faced front and listened to Professor Gert. Ohh, so those pictures were comets, not meteors. Cool! She blinked, totally lost by the first question. What did she know about comets and meteors, other than what her classmates already said? Not much. She knew that comets came from the outer reaches of the solar system and often orbited in elliptical paths... but was that really a difference? If meteors could be pieces of comets, wouldn’t they do the same thing? Gah, she had no idea! Unsure what to say, she kept quiet for now. |
The worst part of Astronomy was that lessons were held in the evening when Apollo would much rather be in his dorm Distracted and because he was slightly obtuse when it came to Astronomy knowledge, he started to raise his hand at the question but then lowered it when he realized how stupid the difference was that he was going to say compared to what his peers offered. So he wrote the answer down on his parchment instead. Meteor has six letters. Comet has five letters. |
SPOILER!!: Responses “Another significant difference is how often we see comets versus meteors,” she informed them as she finished her circuit and leaned back slightly against her desk. “While each meteor shower is often seen annually, as demonstrated in our expeditions outdoors, comets have a much wider orbit. One of the most famous comets, Halley’s Comet named after Edmund Halley the person who identified it, only comes around to be seen from Earth every 76 years. Next seen in 2137.” A good 27 years from now. “Comets will be what we’re focusing on tonight, having already spent a decent amount of time of meteors this semester.” And she certainly didn’t want to bore them. “So next question… In history and mythology what are comets connected to?” (ooc: Forgive the lateness, I had some issues. We'll move on to a mini activity in about 48 hrs) |
Jude was ridiculously pleased with himself; it couldn’t be helped. But he was modest enough to just offer Gert a smile in response to her words to his answers. When it came to her offering further explanation, he made his notes carefully. These obviously would come in very handy for his NEWT studies. Also, he certainly hoped that he’d be around to catch a glimpse of Halley’s Comet in 2137! The seventh year was quite sure that most myths surrounding the arrival of a comet meant that unfavourable things were about to happen. But being the positive soul that he was, Jude decided to go a different route. “In some cultures, it is believed that the arrival of a comet could foretold the birth of someone who would be prominent. The good sort of prominent. I guess that means this person would be a decent and famous human.” |
Brandon took the professor's smile with trepidation. Half right was not right enough. However, since the question was not easy, and he hadn't been the most wrong, he figured it was okay. He reminded himself that this was Hogwarts, and not home, and you didn't get in trouble for being half-wrong. His focus turned to his notes, where he carefully wrote down what he'd learned about comets. Comets were made up of ice and gas. They had wide orbits, like Halley's comet. Next question. It was also pretty hard. "Aren't comets also sometimes seen as an omen? And bringers of bad news?" He didn't believe in things like that, but he wasn't sure that it wasn't true. He didn't know much about astronomy |
As the term came to a close, Nancy had determined that she actually really liked astronomy. There was just something so cool about space and how it just went on and on forever, and all the weird things they found out there. Like planets with rings and now comets...and they hadn't even gotten into the cool stuff like black holes or asteroids and all that! She raised her hand. "Well, people in ancient civilizations didn't really know what comets were or why they appeared, so when they saw them, they usually got really worried that the end of the world was coming, or some other equally devastating doomsday event," she explained. It made sense. You're just minding your business and suddenly, a light appears in the sky that isn't usually there? Made sense they'd assume the worst. |
Desiree listened as Professor Gert spoke again. The more she heard, the more confused she became. She couldn’t help but notice that the professor didn’t say anything about comets’ elliptical orbit paths. Did that mean she was wrong to think that was a difference between comets and meteors? She was glad she didn’t give that answer for the last question! While she had no idea how to answer the last question, the mention of Halley’s comet reminded her of something relevant to this one. She remembered a long ago museum trip with her grandparents; there had been a tapestry depicting Halley’s comet. But what did the museum guide say about it? After several moments racking her brains, she tentatively raised her hand and said, “People once thought the 1066 appearance of Halley’s comet was a bad omen predicting the Norman conquest of England. The comet appears on a tapestry from that time period.” Was that anywhere close to answering the question? She didn’t know, but she was slightly more confident than she was about the last one! |
What was all this talk about comets being connected to bad omens? Apollo frowned as he recalled what a comet was ... A ball of gas released when passing close to the sun. Although at least Jude seemed to have the right idea about it foretelling something good. "I'm with him.... Jude." He thumbed over at his fellow seventh year. "I think comets can be good. I mean by definition they're a body that warms up and releases gases. Usually when something is released, it feels good. So i think it being the bearing of good news and positive omens makes sense." |
SPOILER!!: Happy Thoughts Professor Gert has settled back against her desk as she awaited responses, her arms crossed loosely in front of her. Much as expected, Jude was one of the first to answer, talking of comets supposedly heralding the births of people. “Aye...that is one example,” she remarked with a nod in agreement. It seemed the older students in the lesson were leaning towards the positive messages of the comet as Apollo agreed with his fellow seventh year. “An interesting take, Mr. Adara-Stark," And she could see where he was going with it, a warm feeling usually cozy and comforting and thus positive...unless its a fever. "Though given comets are partly ice and the warming would melt them...the loosing of a part of themselves could be seen as negative." SPOILER!!: soothsayers Brandon was the first to offer that it might be a more negative connection. “Exactly, Mr. Fox,” she answered him. “While there are some positive beliefs in the appearance of a comet in the sky, they are more commonly believed to be warning of bad events, or omens. ” They were definitely an example on different perspectives showing different things, especially when most were merely coincidence. At Nancy’s raised hand, Celeste acknowledged her and listened, nodding in agreement as the badger expanded on her housemate’s answer. “A perfect example of fearing that which you do not know. Quite similar to the fact that early people believed solar eclipses to be the end of the world before they knew that the sun wasn’t blocked out permanently.” And then the four year Hufflepuff rounded it all out with a specific example. “Quite right, Ms. Marchand,” she remarked. “While the astronomer’s believe the comet named for Halley has been around for over 2000 years, that is it’s most notorious appearance in the sky. The tapestry in question, the Bayeux tapestry is the earliest depiction of it. “ ----------------------------------- And with that, they were ready to move on, the woman straighten from her desk and stepping to the side so the boxes upon its wooden surface were fully seen once more. “For the mini activity, I want you to come up and pick up the following items from the boxes here,” she started, removing the lids with a wave of her hand before giving a flick of her wand at the board behind her desk where the following list appeared. Quote:
(ooc: Great job so far. We'll move on to the main activity in 3 days to give time to be creative and if you want to break it up into more than one post) |
Astronomy and negative omens?! Pfffft. Jude wouldn’t let that bother him. He’d focus on the good things like he always did. It was a method he had learnt, after all, during his time in The Room back in his first year was a necessity for survival. He simply wasn’t being naive or silly. Anyway, it was activity time! The seventh year made a note of what materials he needed before heading over to collect them. “One foam sphere,’’ he muttered, checking to ensure the cylinder was duly cut out of the centre. “One foot-long dowel. A small roll of parchment. Five coloured ribbons.” Just in case he needed extras. And yes, he did take the BRIGHTEST colours he could find. Now for that happy message! This was something easily Jude could do! On the slip of parchment, he wrote: You will be HIGHLY successful at your chosen career, my friend! Humming happily, he rolled it up then placed it into the foam ball. What next, professor? |
Arts and crafts was usually where Nancy started to get lost in the classes. She liked just reading and taking notes and learning things the old fashion way - but she supposed this was good for all those people who had to be all hands on or whatever. Not her, but she could see where others needed it. Also she was intrigued by this whole bad omens and good predictions thing. Hmmm. So, smiling to herself a bit, she headed to the front of the class and started gathering her supplies. Foam ball? Check. Dowel? Check. Parchment and ribbons? Check and check. |
Brandon was relieved that he got something right. He liked being right, mostly because he didn't like being wrong and being made fun of. Not that anyone here seemed to do that, but he always secretly worried that they would. Ooh, an activity! While he didn't usually say it, it was obvious by his smile that he liked things like that. He grabbed one(1) foam sphere with a cylinder perfectly cut out of the center, one(1) foot long dowel, one(1) small roll of parchment, and five(5) different color ribbons. He wondered if the dimensions and colors were really important, but decided they were just descriptions of the current materials. Comets were omens. But Brandon was worried that writing a omen on the paper meant that he was wishing bad things for someone- even though the professor said it was fine- so he decided to write a happy prediction down instead. Just in case. Everyone you love will be happy someday. He was sure that had to be good luck. Then, he rolled it up neatly and put it inside the foam ball. That left the foot-long dowel and the different color ribbons. What were those for? He was curious. |
Desiree blinked, scarcely able to believe her ears. She actually got the answer right? Who knew? Unsure whether to feel more surprised to relieved, she simply smiled when Professor Gert elaborated on her answer. She sat up a little straighter, craning her neck to try to see into the boxes as the professor opened them, but she was too far back. Her mood brightened as she heard the directions and saw the list of supplies on the board. Although she might be totally lost when it came to astronomy, art projects were right up her alley! She left her seat and retrieved a foam sphere, roll of parchment, and wooden dowel from the boxes at the front. Now what color ribbons should she use? Definitely pink and purple because they were the most princessy colors in existence! But she needed three more. She picked yellow next because it was the Hufflepuff house color, and it matched her favorite Disney princess’s dress. For the two remaining ribbons, she went with two different shades of blue. Blue would look good with the other three colors she picked, and it sort of reminded her of her dad and brother. Desiree carried her materials back to her seat and neatly arranged them in front of her. Now all she had to do was write a prediction, but what kind should she write? Not a bad omen, that was for sure! Who needs that kind of negativity in their life? She fidgeted, flicking her favorite pink quill back and forth until she came up with the happiest, most Disney-esque prediction she could. An idea suddenly occurred to her, and she pulled a vial of color-changing ink out of her bag. The pretty colors would make her prediction even cheerier! Picking up her pen, she wrote a little poem in her most elegant handwriting: Roses are red Violets are blue All your wishes Are sure to come true! After waiting a few minutes for the ink to dry - because who wants a smudged prediction? Eww! - she rolled up the parchment and placed in the cylindrical hole in the foam sphere. So now what? She glanced at the wooden dowel and ribbons, wondering how they were going to fit into the project. Maybe they were going to wrap the ribbons around the dowel? Or - ooh, they could make a fairy wand by sticking the sphere on top of the dowel and attaching the ribbons. Probably not what they were doing, as fairy wands had nothing to do with astronomy, but it sounded fun! |
Professor Gert watched as each of the students gathered up the supplies that were needed, the woman tidying up the boxes when she was sure they all had everything. Vanishing them to her office to be out of the way for the next step in their activities. There was just the waiting until they all seemed to have come up with what they wanted to write and add to their ‘comet’ spheres. She had a feeling that at least one of them had chosen the positive leaning, looking at you Mr. Anders, but that was quite alright. Good omens were what you looked forward to anyway. “Alright, with that done, go ahead and stick the one end of your dowel into the sphere, which will allow you to move your ‘comet’ a bit easier.” Sure, it started to look like a funny wand, especially with what they were going to add after, but it worked better than just holding them in their hands. “Then you can tie each of the ribbons to the dowel right under the sphere” This would help them make the tail of the comet when she added what she needed later on. “Finally take out your want, and you’re going to cast the freezing charm on the sphere to encase it in the ice. For those who don’t know it, the incantation is Glacius and the wand movement is sort of like two peaks and a curve underneath.” Both appearing with a flick on the board to show what everyone needed to know. Quote:
(ooc: Sorry for the delay...spring hit and so did allergies. You have about 3 days and however many posts for this as well) |
You bet, Professor! Spreading positivity was his thing. That was why Jude could not have been more pleased with the words he had written on that parchment. Thrilled that they were moving along, he eagerly followed the instructions. One end of the dowel into the sphere before reaching for a random ribbon: a bright orange one. It was soon tied neatly to the dowel - the bit under the sphere - and this was followed up by four other ribbons, each beneath the other: purple, neon green, hot pink and red orange. “Glacius!’’ The Hufflepuff completed the appropriate wand movement and watched in fascination as his sphere was captured in ice. It made him think of Neptune and Uranus, the two coldest planets. With all that done, Jude got to his feet, little contraption in hand. His free hand went up as he moved to the boundary of the classroom. “Comets usually have two tails and one is caused by ultraviolet light changing the gas from the comet into ions. The ions are carried by solar wind and this forms the ion tail.” Did he explain that properly? Because he was trying to break it down into simple terms for his classmates. Also, he had left the floor wide open for someone to mention the dust tail. |
Desiree listened closely to the next set of directions, eager to see where this project was going next. Ooh, a new spell? Fun! She copied the information for Glacius in her notes, giggling softly as she drew the wand movement. That wand movement kind of looked like two mountains with a stream! Hmm… if she knew they were going to be freezing the foam spheres, she would’ve chosen a more Elsa-inspired color palette for her ribbons. Oh well, too late now! She stuck the wooden dowel into the sphere and started tying her ribbons underneath. First pink, then dark blue, yellow in the middle, then light blue and purple on the other end. She smiled, admiring her work so far. That really did look like a fairy wand! Setting the “Comet” in hand, Desiree got up, softly humming Let it Go to herself as she moved to the edge of the room. She blinked, totally at a loss for an answer to the question. Seriously, where was Adam when she needed him?! Her brother was a lot better at this science-y stuff than her! She thought back to her textbook and vaguely remembered something about a comet’s tail made of dust. While she was not at all confident in her knowledge, she didn’t want to look lazy or dumb for not trying, so she timidly raised her hand. “The other tail is made of dust... I think,” she said. “And… it’s bent because of light from the sun.” Was that anywhere near right? She had no idea! |
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