SnitchSeeker.com - View Single Post - Astronomy Lesson 3 :: planetary formation

sweetpinkpixie · 03-05-2014, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

What was a planet? That was an easy question! Caleb smiled to himself and stuck his hand in the air. "A planet is a mass that orbits around the sun. I think it has to be pretty large to be considered a planet, and if it's too small it's considered a dwarf planet or something smaller," he said. What was smaller than a dwarf planet? He wasn't sure.

Airey was just about to start gnawing on his foiled covered chocolate when the first hand was up in the air. "Very good, Mr. Newell. In terms of size, specifically, the mass of an object must be much larger than anything else which crosses its orbit." Of to a good start here.

SPOILER!!: ELLA & TOBY!

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

Tobias was sleeping?

Because Ella didn't trust her classmates with her little badger, the eighteen year old took one for the team and painfully made the trip over to him. Owwww. Owwww. Owwwwwie. Then she observed the boy for a minute or two before picking up his textbook and letting it fall to the floor with a thud. "Badger BOOM." Was he awake now or? She was just going to head back to her seat now and hope so. She could always flick the foil from the chocolate coins at him if he didn't wake up. Yeah.

Speaking of, St. Patrick's Day! Was Tag going to have the best day ever? Probably. Ella smiled faintly at this and made a mental note that some rainbow cake might be in order later. Yeah.

But planets...what was a planet? Well, it was round. YEAH. There was also other stuff but um...um..."Well, they orbit around the sun and they're circular and um..." UMMMM... "Oh, those big meanies took away Pluto's planet status cause of his size or something which is entirely UNFAIR."

Chocolate. She needed chocolate. Grumpy old people feels happening.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

zzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzZzzzzz-

THUD!

"-bludger shoes!"

With a sudden confused yelp from his subconscious, Tobias was suddenly jolted back into the land of the living (thanks to that DELIGHTFUL wake up call from the Head Girl). He was confused for a minute, because he'd had sort of forgotten where he was and all, and the it hadn't exactly been a GENTLE awakening. In fact, Toby's heart was still kind of pounding, and he figured that hearing his familiar ~~war cry~~ catchphrase had been what led to his own... uh... exclamation.

Ella was walking away from him. Ella. Ella.

Tobias didn't even have time to mock!glare across the room, because he was registering more things and trying to snap back and focus. And, oh! Cutty was here. Toby offered his friend a sleepy smile before blinking around at the rest of the room.

Oh... oh wait. They were starting? ALREADY?

SDKJFDLFJLDSJSLDJSLKJDLSJSFLJS

Airey clutched his chest and looked as though he were in complete agony at the loud thud and seemed to ECHO in the classroom, not to mention something about a bludger boom. Wait, WHO WAS PLAYING QUIDDITCH IN HIS CLASSROOM?! WAS HE HAVING A HEART ATTACK?!

*WHEEEEEEEZE WHEEEEEEZE*

Blue eyes flying around the room, he spotted Miss Ella doing something he had requested, but certainly going about it by means that were less than satisfactory. "Miss Ella, while your assistance in waking Mr. Tempus are appreciated, I would have preferred that you had done so without abusing school property. 5 points will be taken from Hufflepuff." He paused for a moment to wheeze a bit more. "But 2 of those will be returned for successfully bringing your classmate back from Dreamland."

And yes. The whole Pluto debate. Suppose he had to touch on that today didn't he.

And YOU, Miss Ella, just implied that he was a "big meanie." Tisk tisk. Not that he had been present when the decision had been made, but the man did support the scientists decision.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady of Light

... What was a planet? Errr. The Hufflepuff raised her hand, "It is a celestial body that revolves around the sun.. and it is larger than an asteroid?" Lamest explanation ever? Yeah, maybe. But, she was distracted by the chocolate, okay? The girl was hungry.

Still wheezing and gripping his chest a little, his eyes scanned the room until he found another raised hand. "Very good, Miss Starr. Interesting to note, however, is that there IS an especially large asteroid in the asteroid belt classified as dwarf planet called Ceres."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward Penguin

What really though does the attainment of planetary status mean? Ian pondered aloud. Does it make the cellestial object eligible for some special awards?

"A VERY good question, Mr. Tinker, and something that scientists and astronomers had to think long and hard about. 9,000 professional astronomers to be precise thought about this. Truth of the matter is that prior to 2006 there was only a loose definition of the term planet and because of these many people were laying claim to discovering new planets and the discovery of celestial bodies orbiting stars other than the Sun along the discovery of a vast belt of small bodies orbiting the sun beyond Neptune created urgency for a more specific definition. It is simply a label to help humanity classify objects in space there are no awards for planets." Small chuckle. "Although I am sure some of your classmates would argue that perhaps Pluto is the Leonardo DiCaprio of planets, only worse off since it had a title and then had it taken away."

Quote:

Originally Posted by FireboltAvis88

Sander looked over at his fellow Hufflepuff who had dozed off and envied him. Too bad his nap time had to be cut short as Sander watched the Head girl wake him up.

However, for the rest of the class, it was question time. What is a planet? Sander spent a few minutes thinking of the answer and then listened as some of the students shared their answered. Once there was a pause, Sander raised his hand and gave his answer.

"Professor, a planet as defined in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is a celestial body which orbits the sun, is round in shape and doesn't have any other objects larger than itself and its own satellites within its own gravitational influence,"

Rubbing the back of his neck anxiously, Airey mutter to himself for a moment before finally address Mr. Strand. "I didn't ask for the specifically for the definition given by the IAU, Mr. Strand, but how you would define a planet," he said calmly with giving his temple two taps with his index finger. "But correct none the less. Very good."

At least this one was keeping up with the reading.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RachieRu

But she did have a idea what a planet was. She turned away from staring at the hufflepuff boy and put her hand in the air. "Isn't a planet... like something that orbits something? Like a star I think? Cause like a moon isn't a planet but it orbits something."

"Mmmhmmm," he nodded towards the Slytherin. "Although it could not be proven until the early 1990’s that there were other planets orbiting other stars - we call these exoplanets - it is a fact that planets much be celestial bodies that are capable of independently orbiting a star or, in the case of our Solar System, the Sun."

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScarletCharm104

Marigold was happily munching on chocolate and grinning at Airey because DAWWW. HE WAS SUCH A BIG SWEETIE. Waiting to swallow the chocolatey goodness in her mouth before raising her hand to answer.

"I think that a planet is a big ball of gases and other elements," she said. Heh.

Chuckling a little to himself because, heh gas, he nodded his head towards Miss McAlistor. "What you have described is true for the Gas Giants - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - in our Solar System. They are essential just that, giant balls of gas that meet planetary classification. It is also thought that perhaps each of these Gas Giants posses small solid cores as large as three to 20 Earth masses."

Quote:

Originally Posted by UnicornDragonPatronus

As he began to talk about planets, she raised her hand. "A planet is a celestial body that is of a certain size that has a orbit around a sun," she described. She didn't know the exact size a planet had to be- but she was sure someone could fill in that blank in her knowledge.

"Very good, Miss Hedge. And what is fascinating is that there is no way to know just how many suns there are in the universe so there are really infinite possibilities for other planets and solar systems like our own."

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermionesclone

Question. Planets. "Professor?" he called, raising his hand in the air, "Like the others have said, planets are celestial body that orbits the sun." Nodnod. "And... some of them have moons! Like... Earth has one but Jupiter has... four main, popular ones and... and..." Come on, memory! "... lots more smaller ones." Lots. He had forgotten the number. Hair!ruffle.

"While certainly not a requirement, many planets DO have moons, also called satellites, thanks to gravity's pull keeping them in place. There are some 146 moons orbiting planets in our Solar System alone and still many left to be officially confirmation."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

On to class now. How would she define a planet? She raised her hand. "It's an individual world floating in the solar system," she said. That about summed it up to her. "Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day to you, too! It's mine and Caleb's birthday." So that made her extra special and AWESOME today, even if it also meant she was probably about eighty-six years old by now.

This was a, um, a cute response. Not really incorrect, but not really correct either. Just...cute. And yes, Airey Flamsteed was using the word cute. Only responding to her question was entirely overshadowed by what she said next. "SWEET SOLSTICE! Is it really?!" he squeaked, perhaps expelling some exhaust out the rear if you catch our drift. "This calls for a song then."

AND he was even going to stand for it. Slowly. But stand.

Hobbling out from behind his desk and standing in front of it and proceeded to serenade the class. "Happy birthday to yoooooooou! Happy birthday to yoooooooooou! Happy birthdaaaaaaaaaay..." Sweet solstice what were there names again? Uuuuuuuuuuuh.... "Caleb and Soooophie. HAPPYBIRTHDAYTOYOU!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grrr..Meow

ohh what is a planet… he thought about this… but his brain wasn't working to well.. he raised his hand. "errr.. A planet is a big rock type thing that floats around in space… with other rock things" he's always wondered why these rocks never hit each other… but right now this was the best answer he could give..

"A common misconception," he replied as he began the slow hobble back behind his desk before his back went out or he passed out from the lack of oxygen. "There are rocky planets, planets like the ones you created for your homework and in class, but there are also planets mostly made up of gases."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

The first question was easy enough, and Lux actually raised her hand to answer for once instead of getting ready to write notes. "I believe that a planet is a mass that orbits the sun. Some are made of rock - like the ones that were in their solar system - "and some are made of gas." That much she knew even with her slight knowledge of the subject.

Finally back in his seat, the professor relaxed into it a little into it before gesturing towards Miss Carrington to speak. Oh, the timing. He should have just let her respond to Mr. Bay. "Precisely," he nodded.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicole black

Justine raised her hand at the Professors question, eager to participate. "Sir, zee vord planet comes from zee Ancient Greek for 'Vandering Star," and is defined as any celestial body zat 'as enough mass to be shaped by its own gravity. zough zis definition 'as been much contested by scientist zrough zee years, personally, I'm not quite sure if zee idea is a correct one, I believe more data is really needed before ve can properly define such a zing," Justine said, speaking clearly, so that she might be heard, she was a bit worried that as the Professor had aged that his hearing might be impaired.

ooc: no offense meant <33

Leaning his right ear towards the Ravenclaw as she spoke, the professor was finding it even harder to hear what was being said. Hear and understand. It was like trying to understand Tamarian. "I didn't catch any of that."

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemon

"Like some people said, it has go 'round a sun," not THE Sun, because the planets in her lil' box didn't go round the BIG one, they revolved around her very own, "and it has to have a great enough mass for its gravity to squish it into a roundish shape. But that planet ball that's formed still has to be big enough the clear its orbital zone, meaning it's gravitationally dominant. Either has to accrete with neighboring objects or sling-shot 'em off into space. Weeehooo goodbye smaller bodies. Don't wantcha. We're breaking up! Go live in Jupiter's orbit, I'm kickin' you OUT."

Senile!Alice giggled. A lot.

Hehehehehehehe.

Hehehe.

What was it he used to do when students gave stellar answers? Something with deks. Desks and....tapping? No, that wasn't it. Desks and...OH YES! Jumping. Merlin it felt like ages since he had been able to do that and he was almost willing to risk jumping on Miss Fischer's desk.

And did anyone ever tell you, Miss Fischer, that laughter was contagious? And laughter combined with excitement resulted in some unfortunate resulting. Trumpeting ones even.

Phew. Where were the gas masks?

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

And the lesson was starting! Ohhh! The chocolates were because of St. Patrick's day? Adi pulled his chocolates back towards him. Sorry Benny. These were his again. So what was a planet? The Puffer pondered then raised a hand. "A planet is a mass that orbits the sun and they have moon or moons.'' NodNod.

Waving his hand in front of his face - where HAD that stench come from? - he raised his finger to correct him slightly on his definition. "By your definition, Mr. Rehman, neither Mercury nor Venus are planets because they have no moons," he said before giving his nose a tap with his bony finger.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Expecto-Penguin

Kace heard the professor's suggestion and he nodded. "Yeah do you know where i can get a cane?" He was in need of one, unless he could use his bed post...he would decide afterwards. I mean his pain was getting worse.

What did he know about planets? He had a little clue. He raised his hand, "Professor i know planets are made of gas. But what kind of gas i am kind of fuzzy on. Some planets have like 3 moons too i remember learning about..." he said not being 100 percent positive.

Chow mein? What? Hadn't the Hufflepuff already had dinner? "Uuuuuuuuh...go to the kitchens and ask a house elf to make you some?" Merlin, it wasn't rocket science to find food in the castle, silly Hufflepuff.

"Some planets have A LOT more than 3," he replied with an excited nod. "We will discuss specifics regarding gas planets a little later, but remember that not ALL planets need be primarily composes of gas."

Quote:

Originally Posted by carpediem

"A planet is a giant mass of rock or -wait someone said gas- in space. And each planet has like its own ecosystem in place. And a planet has to be a certain size or it's considered a dwarf planet." She was getting a little off topic. But still. It WAS about planets after all. It wasn't like she was talking about squirrels or nacho's. Speaking of which, she was kind of hungry.

Ecosystems...oh Merlin was that a can of worms that he did not want to get into right now. "An ecosystem implies that there is an existing community of living organisms and the combination of organic and inorganic matter and natural forces interacting and changing. As to whether or not such things exist somewhere else in the universe is still a mystery, although the discovery of a single cell ecosystem gives us some hope."

No, there was not going to be any talk about extraterrestrial life during today's lesson. Nope nope. Pluto was enough of a headache to deal with without kicking down another door.

SPOILER!!: Alexa XD

To be honest, the man couldn't even see any lint because of his eye sight, so his phobia about the stuff was pretty satisfied at the moment. Out of sight out of mind, right?

While he was thankful for that, he was probably even more so that he could not see the love affair going on between the prefect and her chocolate and all he could make out was that Miss Cambridge was concentrating reeeeeeally hard on something.

Note taking. Must be that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meizzner

See he did not hear him. Which was the perfect time to say it. Oh chocolate. That was what it was. Not that Nigel was hungry for it. He listened to Flamsteed finally start class. Well this should be interesting in the very least. Ah, the first question.

You know what. Alice's explanation made perfect sense. Simple yet brilliant. Now back to answering the question.

"Pluto"

Never forget Pluto. It was still a planet. Just a dwarf

See...here we go already?

"Was this the punchline to a joke, Mr. Barrington?" Because it wasn't very funny. Apparently they needed to work more on his stand up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

Well, something had been asked but... well, Toby needed a minute. So instead he just sort of nodded meaningfully at what people were saying, looking super super cereal and like he absolutely agreed with all of those things he could totally hear and understand. Yeah. He also hadn't fallen asleep. Nope.

Wait. Did that prefect just say pLUTO?!

Toby raised his hand at once, eager to provide his input. "Viva la Pluto!"

See? HE WAS CONTRIBUTING AND EVERYTHING.

Ah yes, the way that Mr. Tempus tended to sign off his homework. Not all the time, but the Hufflepuff had slipped it in there every now and then. "Considering Pluto was never alive to begin with, it would be rather difficult for it to viva." Or however that term was used.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazykitty

"A planet is a stellar object large enough to be rounded by it's own gravitational pull, but not large enough to cause thermonuclear fusion and give off light," she answered after swallowing. Though there were some lights on Earth that were bright enough to be seen from space......... but she was pretty sure it wasn't the same thing.

Airey blinked a few times as he used his pinky finger to clean out his deaf ear. Something in it was rather itchy and aggravating him. "Stellar? I believe the term you are looking for is celestial. Stellar is an adjective referring to one or more stars and cannot be applied to planets," he corrected. Thermonuclear fusion didn't really apply to the situation either considering the basic composition of a planet compared to a star was different.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deezerz

Breaking another piece of chocolate and shoving into her mouth, Bev raised her hand. Very slowly and just barely above her head, but it was raised. "It's a ball of rock and/or gas that orbits a star. Like Earth." Answer and example. That deserved more chocolate.

Nom, nom nom! :3

Concise and to the point. "Very good, Miss Wayne," he nodded towards the Slytherin. Oh, what was she eating? Chocolate? He wouldn't mind having some of that himself. But he had that classroom rule of not eating... "Where did you get that chocolate? You know the rules, Miss Wayne. No eating in the classroom."

Wait...why did everyone have chocolate?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Oh, chocolate? Hello, yes. Mo rummaged through his cup of coins, sniffing and biting each one, and generally ignoring the question from the professor. More important stuff was happening right now.

Oh, except this was class. Yes, right, hello. What was the question? Pluto? Planets? Chocolate?

"I agree with Alice. She's smartest girl at Hogwarts. Planets have to be big enough that scientists don't arbitrarily throw them out, like Pluto. And round... d'they have to be round, though?"

Arbitrarily? Airey snorted and breathed in at the same time, causing PAIN and making the astronomer's face contort into something reminiscent of a troll stubbing his toe on a fallen tree.

But before he could scold the boy for using THAT word in regards to science (MINUS 100 POINTS TO YOU, MR. BRANXTON!) the professor was distracted by a very interesting question. "As out of this world as it would be to see a planet in the shape of a cube or a triangular prism, they are not energy efficient among many other parameters that make the sphere so unique. A sphere is the most energy efficient geometrical shape that contains the greatest volume within the smallest amount of surface area possible and is why you see planets and stars in this shape," he began while giving the quidditch captain a nod. "Furthermore, if you look at things from a more architectural standpoint, when you build a building you have to make sure there is a strong foundation to support its weight and size and the the larger the object the stronger its gravitational field. Stars and planets are far too massive to create that same foundation and gravity would prevent anything from sticking out on a star or planet."

Quote:

Originally Posted by emjay

Instead of saying that again, if indeed someone had said it if they were even on that question, Brynn set about eating her candy as she "took notes." Sure, there were actual words being written down - at least the ones she heard while her thoughts weren't distracted by chocolate. But mostly her notebook was filled with doodles of stars and possibly a solar system of planets. That worked for Astronomy, right?

From where Airey was sitting at his desk, it looked as though the Ravenclaw was writing notes, which was good. Notes were good. Approving nod going your way, Miss Rhys-Davies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ivana R

Suddenly, Annabeth felt she needed to reply the teacher's question. She didn't dare to reply questions in Astronomy class as she thought she didn't know anything on the issue. Though, something in the teacher's eyes had encouraged her to open her mouth this time. Anna raised her hand,
"A planet is a big astronomical object which orbits a star. It doesn't give off light as a star and its gravity can attract satellites as the Earth attracts the Moon." She smiled. It should be enough.

Airey nodded, despite it sounded a bit too textbook for him, but mentioning that a planet did not emit its own light was something that would come into play a little later on in the discussion. "Keep that nothing about not giving light off in mind," he nodded before moving on to the next student.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga

Sitting playing with his quill for a bit he got bored. So when bored he decided to answer the question. Raising his hand he waited for his term. "See professors planets are like quidditch balls. They are round, different colors, different sizes, and each orbit around the sun at different paces, such as quidditch balls fly around the pitch at different speeds depending on the ball and the players." That was the best way he could think to explain them at least.

Now THIS was more what he had been hoping to hear more about - although everyone else's responses were still fantastic in their own right - but applying things to something more tangible and relatable for those among them that struggled with the concepts and terms. "STELLAR, Mr. Bart," he beamed as he offered the boy a golf clap. Any clap louder than that made his ears ring. "Take 3 points for your out of the box comparison. I myself often referred to the Snitch as the Mercury of quidditch in my youth."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lockhartian

No?Wellllll.... "Well, Pluto is not a planet. It's a dwarf planet. A plutoid." There's a difference. That's... the best she could do to pretend she was actually listening...

Oh, dear Merlin.

"3 points to you, Miss Wisteria," he declared. Finally someone that was looking at this whole Pluto situation logically and not trying to turn it into a sobfest.

Sitting up a bit more straight in his seat, Airey flicked his wand (OH HEY THERE IT WAS!) towards the chalkboard to have the chalk transcribe what he had to say next. The important bits anyway. "Very good all of you. Now, Mr. Strand referred to an organization called the International Astronomical Union who established the standing definition of a planet in which a celestial body in space must meet the following three requirements:

It must be an object which independently orbits the Sun

It must have enough mass so that gravity pulls it into a roughly spherical shape

It must be large enough to "dominate" its orbit, meaning its mass must be much larger than anything else which crosses its orbit

While I am NOT opening this up for discussion, but since it is the dragon in the room I may as well get it off my wrinkly chest, Pluto is NOT a planet as Miss Wisteria stated. The reason it was dubbed a dwarf planet is because it fails to meet the third criteria of a planet and is now known to be just a large example of a collection of objects called the Kuiper Belt."

Case closed GOOD DAY!

"I know some of you continue to feel passionately about Pluto being demoted as it is, but Pluto had only been classified as a planet for only 75 years and questions about its planetary status had been raised for more than 10 years prior to the final decision in 2005. The shock and woe is Pluto some of you are still feeling can somewhat be compared to the way that early peoples had to adjust to the news that we live in a heliocentric universe. For thousands of years schoolchildren were taught that planets revolved around the Earth. If they could get over THAT shock, surely you all can handle Pluto being relabeled," he concluded while rubbing his now balding head. There. Done with the Pluto discussion, alright? "What is fascinating is that NASA has discovered 715 NEW planets, so just imagine how much further our understanding of planets may evolve from here!"

Clearing his throat, the words My Very European Mother Just Served Us Nutella appeared on the chalk board underneath the planetary list. "My very European mother just served us Nutella," he read. "What does this statement mean? And if you haven't tried Nutella before you really should. It is quite delicious." And what he wanted right now.

OH LOOK! CHOCOLATE ON HIS DESK! How had that gotten there?

OOC: as always thank you all for your patience <3 this literally took me all day to type while taking breaks here and there to eat and deal with things around the house BUT YOU ALL ARE SO FANTASTIC SO IT'S OKAY I DON'T MIND!!!

Class will resume approximately 20 hours from the time of this post.

03-05-2014, 07:53 AM	#52 (permalink)
sweetpinkpixie SSRPG Admin Gladrags Mod Quibbler Mod Minister for Magic Alley Proprietor Sea Serpent Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: The Paths Posts: 41,477 Hogwarts RPG Name: Professor Cox Ravenclaw Graduated Hogwarts RPG Name: CJ Miller Gryffindor Fourth Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Nyle Harden Hufflepuff Seventh Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Iris Harden Ravenclaw Seventh Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Calliope Barrington Slytherin Sixth Year Ministry Department Head: Charles Hollingberry Minister's Office Ministry Department Head: Airey Flamsteed Mysteries Diagon Alley Proprietor: Victor García Massey Ollivanders x12 x12	astronomizzle ♧ gryffinDORK \| & the rest is drag ♣ #badluckDerf Quote: Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom What was a planet? That was an easy question! Caleb smiled to himself and stuck his hand in the air. "A planet is a mass that orbits around the sun. I think it has to be pretty large to be considered a planet, and if it's too small it's considered a dwarf planet or something smaller," he said. What was smaller than a dwarf planet? He wasn't sure. Airey was just about to start gnawing on his foiled covered chocolate when the first hand was up in the air. "Very good, Mr. Newell. In terms of size, specifically, the mass of an object must be much larger than anything else which crosses its orbit." Of to a good start here. SPOILER!!: ELLA & TOBY! Quote: Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow Tobias was sleeping? Because Ella didn't trust her classmates with her little badger, the eighteen year old took one for the team and painfully made the trip over to him. Owwww. Owwww. Owwwwwie. Then she observed the boy for a minute or two before picking up his textbook and letting it fall to the floor with a thud. "Badger BOOM." Was he awake now or? She was just going to head back to her seat now and hope so. She could always flick the foil from the chocolate coins at him if he didn't wake up. Yeah. Speaking of, St. Patrick's Day! Was Tag going to have the best day ever? Probably. Ella smiled faintly at this and made a mental note that some rainbow cake might be in order later. Yeah. But planets...what was a planet? Well, it was round. YEAH. There was also other stuff but um...um..."Well, they orbit around the sun and they're circular and um..." UMMMM... "Oh, those big meanies took away Pluto's planet status cause of his size or something which is entirely UNFAIR." Chocolate. She needed chocolate. Grumpy old people feels happening. Quote: Originally Posted by Felixir zzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzZzzzzz- THUD! "-bludger shoes!" With a sudden confused yelp from his subconscious, Tobias was suddenly jolted back into the land of the living (thanks to that DELIGHTFUL wake up call from the Head Girl). He was confused for a minute, because he'd had sort of forgotten where he was and all, and the it hadn't exactly been a GENTLE awakening. In fact, Toby's heart was still kind of pounding, and he figured that hearing his familiar ~~war cry~~ catchphrase had been what led to his own... uh... exclamation. Ella was walking away from him. Ella. Ella. Tobias didn't even have time to mock!glare across the room, because he was registering more things and trying to snap back and focus. And, oh! Cutty was here. Toby offered his friend a sleepy smile before blinking around at the rest of the room. Oh... oh wait. They were starting? ALREADY? SDKJFDLFJLDSJSLDJSLKJDLSJSFLJS Airey clutched his chest and looked as though he were in complete agony at the loud thud and seemed to ECHO in the classroom, not to mention something about a bludger boom. Wait, WHO WAS PLAYING QUIDDITCH IN HIS CLASSROOM?! WAS HE HAVING A HEART ATTACK?! WHEEEEEEEZE WHEEEEEEZE Blue eyes flying around the room, he spotted Miss Ella doing something he had requested, but certainly going about it by means that were less than satisfactory. "Miss Ella, while your assistance in waking Mr. Tempus are appreciated, I would have preferred that you had done so without abusing school property. 5 points will be taken from Hufflepuff." He paused for a moment to wheeze a bit more. "But 2 of those will be returned for successfully bringing your classmate back from Dreamland." And yes. The whole Pluto debate. Suppose he had to touch on that today didn't he. And YOU, Miss Ella, just implied that he was a "big meanie." Tisk tisk. Not that he had been present when the decision had been made, but the man did support the scientists decision. Quote: Originally Posted by Lady of Light ... What was a planet? Errr. The Hufflepuff raised her hand, "It is a celestial body that revolves around the sun.. and it is larger than an asteroid?" Lamest explanation ever? Yeah, maybe. But, she was distracted by the chocolate, okay? The girl was hungry. Still wheezing and gripping his chest a little, his eyes scanned the room until he found another raised hand. "Very good, Miss Starr. Interesting to note, however, is that there IS an especially large asteroid in the asteroid belt classified as dwarf planet called Ceres." Quote: Originally Posted by Edward Penguin What really though does the attainment of planetary status mean? Ian pondered aloud. Does it make the cellestial object eligible for some special awards? "A VERY good question, Mr. Tinker, and something that scientists and astronomers had to think long and hard about. 9,000 professional astronomers to be precise thought about this. Truth of the matter is that prior to 2006 there was only a loose definition of the term planet and because of these many people were laying claim to discovering new planets and the discovery of celestial bodies orbiting stars other than the Sun along the discovery of a vast belt of small bodies orbiting the sun beyond Neptune created urgency for a more specific definition. It is simply a label to help humanity classify objects in space there are no awards for planets." Small chuckle. "Although I am sure some of your classmates would argue that perhaps Pluto is the Leonardo DiCaprio of planets, only worse off since it had a title and then had it taken away." Quote: Originally Posted by FireboltAvis88 Sander looked over at his fellow Hufflepuff who had dozed off and envied him. Too bad his nap time had to be cut short as Sander watched the Head girl wake him up. However, for the rest of the class, it was question time. What is a planet? Sander spent a few minutes thinking of the answer and then listened as some of the students shared their answered. Once there was a pause, Sander raised his hand and gave his answer. "Professor, a planet as defined in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is a celestial body which orbits the sun, is round in shape and doesn't have any other objects larger than itself and its own satellites within its own gravitational influence," Rubbing the back of his neck anxiously, Airey mutter to himself for a moment before finally address Mr. Strand. "I didn't ask for the specifically for the definition given by the IAU, Mr. Strand, but how you would define a planet," he said calmly with giving his temple two taps with his index finger. "But correct none the less. Very good." At least this one was keeping up with the reading. Quote: Originally Posted by RachieRu But she did have a idea what a planet was. She turned away from staring at the hufflepuff boy and put her hand in the air. "Isn't a planet... like something that orbits something? Like a star I think? Cause like a moon isn't a planet but it orbits something." "Mmmhmmm," he nodded towards the Slytherin. "Although it could not be proven until the early 1990’s that there were other planets orbiting other stars - we call these exoplanets - it is a fact that planets much be celestial bodies that are capable of independently orbiting a star or, in the case of our Solar System, the Sun." Quote: Originally Posted by ScarletCharm104 Marigold was happily munching on chocolate and grinning at Airey because DAWWW. HE WAS SUCH A BIG SWEETIE. Waiting to swallow the chocolatey goodness in her mouth before raising her hand to answer. "I think that a planet is a big ball of gases and other elements," she said. Heh. Chuckling a little to himself because, heh gas, he nodded his head towards Miss McAlistor. "What you have described is true for the Gas Giants - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - in our Solar System. They are essential just that, giant balls of gas that meet planetary classification. It is also thought that perhaps each of these Gas Giants posses small solid cores as large as three to 20 Earth masses." Quote: Originally Posted by UnicornDragonPatronus As he began to talk about planets, she raised her hand. "A planet is a celestial body that is of a certain size that has a orbit around a sun," she described. She didn't know the exact size a planet had to be- but she was sure someone could fill in that blank in her knowledge. "Very good, Miss Hedge. And what is fascinating is that there is no way to know just how many suns there are in the universe so there are really infinite possibilities for other planets and solar systems like our own." Quote: Originally Posted by hermionesclone Question. Planets. "Professor?" he called, raising his hand in the air, "Like the others have said, planets are celestial body that orbits the sun." Nodnod. "And... some of them have moons! Like... Earth has one but Jupiter has... four main, popular ones and... and..." Come on, memory! "... lots more smaller ones." Lots. He had forgotten the number. Hair!ruffle. "While certainly not a requirement, many planets DO have moons, also called satellites, thanks to gravity's pull keeping them in place. There are some 146 moons orbiting planets in our Solar System alone and still many left to be officially confirmation." Quote: Originally Posted by Anna Banana On to class now. How would she define a planet? She raised her hand. "It's an individual world floating in the solar system," she said. That about summed it up to her. "Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day to you, too! It's mine and Caleb's birthday." So that made her extra special and AWESOME today, even if it also meant she was probably about eighty-six years old by now. This was a, um, a cute response. Not really incorrect, but not really correct either. Just...cute. And yes, Airey Flamsteed was using the word cute. Only responding to her question was entirely overshadowed by what she said next. "SWEET SOLSTICE! Is it really?!" he squeaked, perhaps expelling some exhaust out the rear if you catch our drift. "This calls for a song then." AND he was even going to stand for it. Slowly. But stand. Hobbling out from behind his desk and standing in front of it and proceeded to serenade the class. "Happy birthday to yoooooooou! Happy birthday to yoooooooooou! Happy birthdaaaaaaaaaay..." Sweet solstice what were there names again? Uuuuuuuuuuuh.... "Caleb and Soooophie. HAPPYBIRTHDAYTOYOU!" Quote: Originally Posted by Grrr..Meow ohh what is a planet… he thought about this… but his brain wasn't working to well.. he raised his hand. "errr.. A planet is a big rock type thing that floats around in space… with other rock things" he's always wondered why these rocks never hit each other… but right now this was the best answer he could give.. "A common misconception," he replied as he began the slow hobble back behind his desk before his back went out or he passed out from the lack of oxygen. "There are rocky planets, planets like the ones you created for your homework and in class, but there are also planets mostly made up of gases." Quote: Originally Posted by Squishy The first question was easy enough, and Lux actually raised her hand to answer for once instead of getting ready to write notes. "I believe that a planet is a mass that orbits the sun. Some are made of rock - like the ones that were in their solar system - "and some are made of gas." That much she knew even with her slight knowledge of the subject. Finally back in his seat, the professor relaxed into it a little into it before gesturing towards Miss Carrington to speak. Oh, the timing. He should have just let her respond to Mr. Bay. "Precisely," he nodded. Quote: Originally Posted by nicole black Justine raised her hand at the Professors question, eager to participate. "Sir, zee vord planet comes from zee Ancient Greek for 'Vandering Star," and is defined as any celestial body zat 'as enough mass to be shaped by its own gravity. zough zis definition 'as been much contested by scientist zrough zee years, personally, I'm not quite sure if zee idea is a correct one, I believe more data is really needed before ve can properly define such a zing," Justine said, speaking clearly, so that she might be heard, she was a bit worried that as the Professor had aged that his hearing might be impaired. ooc: no offense meant <33 Leaning his right ear towards the Ravenclaw as she spoke, the professor was finding it even harder to hear what was being said. Hear and understand. It was like trying to understand Tamarian. "I didn't catch any of that." Quote: Originally Posted by lemon "Like some people said, it has go 'round a sun," not THE Sun, because the planets in her lil' box didn't go round the BIG one, they revolved around her very own, "and it has to have a great enough mass for its gravity to squish it into a roundish shape. But that planet ball that's formed still has to be big enough the clear its orbital zone, meaning it's gravitationally dominant. Either has to accrete with neighboring objects or sling-shot 'em off into space. Weeehooo goodbye smaller bodies. Don't wantcha. We're breaking up! Go live in Jupiter's orbit, I'm kickin' you OUT." Senile!Alice giggled. A lot. Hehehehehehehe. Hehehe. What was it he used to do when students gave stellar answers? Something with deks. Desks and....tapping? No, that wasn't it. Desks and...OH YES! Jumping. Merlin it felt like ages since he had been able to do that and he was almost willing to risk jumping on Miss Fischer's desk. And did anyone ever tell you, Miss Fischer, that laughter was contagious? And laughter combined with excitement resulted in some unfortunate resulting. Trumpeting ones even. Phew. Where were the gas masks? Quote: Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 And the lesson was starting! Ohhh! The chocolates were because of St. Patrick's day? Adi pulled his chocolates back towards him. Sorry Benny. These were his again. So what was a planet? The Puffer pondered then raised a hand. "A planet is a mass that orbits the sun and they have moon or moons.'' NodNod. Waving his hand in front of his face - where HAD that stench come from? - he raised his finger to correct him slightly on his definition. "By your definition, Mr. Rehman, neither Mercury nor Venus are planets because they have no moons," he said before giving his nose a tap with his bony finger. Quote: Originally Posted by Expecto-Penguin Kace heard the professor's suggestion and he nodded. "Yeah do you know where i can get a cane?" He was in need of one, unless he could use his bed post...he would decide afterwards. I mean his pain was getting worse. What did he know about planets? He had a little clue. He raised his hand, "Professor i know planets are made of gas. But what kind of gas i am kind of fuzzy on. Some planets have like 3 moons too i remember learning about..." he said not being 100 percent positive. Chow mein? What? Hadn't the Hufflepuff already had dinner? "Uuuuuuuuh...go to the kitchens and ask a house elf to make you some?" Merlin, it wasn't rocket science to find food in the castle, silly Hufflepuff. "Some planets have A LOT more than 3," he replied with an excited nod. "We will discuss specifics regarding gas planets a little later, but remember that not ALL planets need be primarily composes of gas." Quote: Originally Posted by carpediem "A planet is a giant mass of rock or -wait someone said gas- in space. And each planet has like its own ecosystem in place. And a planet has to be a certain size or it's considered a dwarf planet." She was getting a little off topic. But still. It WAS about planets after all. It wasn't like she was talking about squirrels or nacho's. Speaking of which, she was kind of hungry. Ecosystems...oh Merlin was that a can of worms that he did not want to get into right now. "An ecosystem implies that there is an existing community of living organisms and the combination of organic and inorganic matter and natural forces interacting and changing. As to whether or not such things exist somewhere else in the universe is still a mystery, although the discovery of a single cell ecosystem gives us some hope." No, there was not going to be any talk about extraterrestrial life during today's lesson. Nope nope. Pluto was enough of a headache to deal with without kicking down another door. SPOILER!!: Alexa XD Quote: Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo She could stay?? "Eeep! Thanks Professor!" The Gryffindor thew herself into her seat, completely forgetting for that moment the fact that her joints and muscles hadn't been cooperating of late. A sharp string of pain ran through her causing her to suck in a sharp breath and sit perfectly still waiting for it to subside. Merlin, she missed being able to sit any which way she liked. This was another level of torture added to the million and one things wrong with her since this aging. Owwwwwww >__< After the last of the pain finally died she was able to pay attention to the Professor...okay no...no she wasn't gonna lie. The Professor should have known better about bringing chocolate into the class. Lex hadn't heard a single word he said, in fact she didn't hear anything anyone was saying as her hand ripped open the first chocolate coin. Her focus was so intent you could have sworn she was working through some runes for curse breaking but it was really her getting reacquainted with her one and only love. Of late she hadn't been able to find her candy bag. This was all the sugar she'd get for another Merlin knows how long. Suuuuuugar. Her precious, lovely, sugar. She just wanted to snuggle up in bed with it forever...'cept it wouldn't last forever....could she and the chocolate have a moment please? This was almost too much for her. To be honest, the man couldn't even see any lint because of his eye sight, so his phobia about the stuff was pretty satisfied at the moment. Out of sight out of mind, right? While he was thankful for that, he was probably even more so that he could not see the love affair going on between the prefect and her chocolate and all he could make out was that Miss Cambridge was concentrating reeeeeeally hard on something. Note taking. Must be that. Quote: Originally Posted by Meizzner See he did not hear him. Which was the perfect time to say it. Oh chocolate. That was what it was. Not that Nigel was hungry for it. He listened to Flamsteed finally start class. Well this should be interesting in the very least. Ah, the first question. You know what. Alice's explanation made perfect sense. Simple yet brilliant. Now back to answering the question. "Pluto" Never forget Pluto. It was still a planet. Just a dwarf See...here we go already? "Was this the punchline to a joke, Mr. Barrington?" Because it wasn't very funny. Apparently they needed to work more on his stand up. Quote: Originally Posted by Felixir Well, something had been asked but... well, Toby needed a minute. So instead he just sort of nodded meaningfully at what people were saying, looking super super cereal and like he absolutely agreed with all of those things he could totally hear and understand. Yeah. He also hadn't fallen asleep. Nope. Wait. Did that prefect just say pLUTO?! Toby raised his hand at once, eager to provide his input. "Viva la Pluto!" See? HE WAS CONTRIBUTING AND EVERYTHING. Ah yes, the way that Mr. Tempus tended to sign off his homework. Not all the time, but the Hufflepuff had slipped it in there every now and then. "Considering Pluto was never alive to begin with, it would be rather difficult for it to viva." Or however that term was used. Quote: Originally Posted by lazykitty "A planet is a stellar object large enough to be rounded by it's own gravitational pull, but not large enough to cause thermonuclear fusion and give off light," she answered after swallowing. Though there were some lights on Earth that were bright enough to be seen from space......... but she was pretty sure it wasn't the same thing. Airey blinked a few times as he used his pinky finger to clean out his deaf ear. Something in it was rather itchy and aggravating him. "Stellar? I believe the term you are looking for is celestial. Stellar is an adjective referring to one or more stars and cannot be applied to planets," he corrected. Thermonuclear fusion didn't really apply to the situation either considering the basic composition of a planet compared to a star was different. Quote: Originally Posted by Deezerz Breaking another piece of chocolate and shoving into her mouth, Bev raised her hand. Very slowly and just barely above her head, but it was raised. "It's a ball of rock and/or gas that orbits a star. Like Earth." Answer and example. That deserved more chocolate. Nom, nom nom! :3 Concise and to the point. "Very good, Miss Wayne," he nodded towards the Slytherin. Oh, what was she eating? Chocolate? He wouldn't mind having some of that himself. But he had that classroom rule of not eating... "Where did you get that chocolate? You know the rules, Miss Wayne. No eating in the classroom." Wait...why did everyone have chocolate? Quote: Originally Posted by Cassirin Oh, chocolate? Hello, yes. Mo rummaged through his cup of coins, sniffing and biting each one, and generally ignoring the question from the professor. More important stuff was happening right now. Oh, except this was class. Yes, right, hello. What was the question? Pluto? Planets? Chocolate? "I agree with Alice. She's smartest girl at Hogwarts. Planets have to be big enough that scientists don't arbitrarily throw them out, like Pluto. And round... d'they have to be round, though?" Arbitrarily? Airey snorted and breathed in at the same time, causing PAIN and making the astronomer's face contort into something reminiscent of a troll stubbing his toe on a fallen tree. But before he could scold the boy for using THAT word in regards to science (MINUS 100 POINTS TO YOU, MR. BRANXTON!) the professor was distracted by a very interesting question. "As out of this world as it would be to see a planet in the shape of a cube or a triangular prism, they are not energy efficient among many other parameters that make the sphere so unique. A sphere is the most energy efficient geometrical shape that contains the greatest volume within the smallest amount of surface area possible and is why you see planets and stars in this shape," he began while giving the quidditch captain a nod. "Furthermore, if you look at things from a more architectural standpoint, when you build a building you have to make sure there is a strong foundation to support its weight and size and the the larger the object the stronger its gravitational field. Stars and planets are far too massive to create that same foundation and gravity would prevent anything from sticking out on a star or planet." Quote: Originally Posted by emjay Instead of saying that again, if indeed someone had said it if they were even on that question, Brynn set about eating her candy as she "took notes." Sure, there were actual words being written down - at least the ones she heard while her thoughts weren't distracted by chocolate. But mostly her notebook was filled with doodles of stars and possibly a solar system of planets. That worked for Astronomy, right? From where Airey was sitting at his desk, it looked as though the Ravenclaw was writing notes, which was good. Notes were good. Approving nod going your way, Miss Rhys-Davies. Quote: Originally Posted by Ivana R Suddenly, Annabeth felt she needed to reply the teacher's question. She didn't dare to reply questions in Astronomy class as she thought she didn't know anything on the issue. Though, something in the teacher's eyes had encouraged her to open her mouth this time. Anna raised her hand, "A planet is a big astronomical object which orbits a star. It doesn't give off light as a star and its gravity can attract satellites as the Earth attracts the Moon." She smiled. It should be enough. Airey nodded, despite it sounded a bit too textbook for him, but mentioning that a planet did not emit its own light was something that would come into play a little later on in the discussion. "Keep that nothing about not giving light off in mind," he nodded before moving on to the next student. Quote: Originally Posted by Bazinga Sitting playing with his quill for a bit he got bored. So when bored he decided to answer the question. Raising his hand he waited for his term. "See professors planets are like quidditch balls. They are round, different colors, different sizes, and each orbit around the sun at different paces, such as quidditch balls fly around the pitch at different speeds depending on the ball and the players." That was the best way he could think to explain them at least. Now THIS was more what he had been hoping to hear more about - although everyone else's responses were still fantastic in their own right - but applying things to something more tangible and relatable for those among them that struggled with the concepts and terms. "STELLAR, Mr. Bart," he beamed as he offered the boy a golf clap. Any clap louder than that made his ears ring. "Take 3 points for your out of the box comparison. I myself often referred to the Snitch as the Mercury of quidditch in my youth." Quote: Originally Posted by Lockhartian No?Wellllll.... "Well, Pluto is not a planet. It's a dwarf planet. A plutoid." There's a difference. That's... the best she could do to pretend she was actually listening... Oh, dear Merlin. "3 points to you, Miss Wisteria," he declared. Finally someone that was looking at this whole Pluto situation logically and not trying to turn it into a sobfest. Sitting up a bit more straight in his seat, Airey flicked his wand (OH HEY THERE IT WAS!) towards the chalkboard to have the chalk transcribe what he had to say next. The important bits anyway. "Very good all of you. Now, Mr. Strand referred to an organization called the International Astronomical Union who established the standing definition of a planet in which a celestial body in space must meet the following three requirements: It must be an object which independently orbits the Sun It must have enough mass so that gravity pulls it into a roughly spherical shape It must be large enough to "dominate" its orbit, meaning its mass must be much larger than anything else which crosses its orbit While I am NOT opening this up for discussion, but since it is the dragon in the room I may as well get it off my wrinkly chest, Pluto is NOT a planet as Miss Wisteria stated. The reason it was dubbed a dwarf planet is because it fails to meet the third criteria of a planet and is now known to be just a large example of a collection of objects called the Kuiper Belt." Case closed GOOD DAY! "I know some of you continue to feel passionately about Pluto being demoted as it is, but Pluto had only been classified as a planet for only 75 years and questions about its planetary status had been raised for more than 10 years prior to the final decision in 2005. The shock and woe is Pluto some of you are still feeling can somewhat be compared to the way that early peoples had to adjust to the news that we live in a heliocentric universe. For thousands of years schoolchildren were taught that planets revolved around the Earth. If they could get over THAT shock, surely you all can handle Pluto being relabeled," he concluded while rubbing his now balding head. There. Done with the Pluto discussion, alright? "What is fascinating is that NASA has discovered 715 NEW planets, so just imagine how much further our understanding of planets may evolve from here!" Clearing his throat, the words My Very European Mother Just Served Us Nutella appeared on the chalk board underneath the planetary list. "My very European mother just served us Nutella," he read. "What does this statement mean? And if you haven't tried Nutella before you really should. It is quite delicious." And what he wanted right now. OH LOOK! CHOCOLATE ON HIS DESK! How had that gotten there? OOC: as always thank you all for your patience <3 this literally took me all day to type while taking breaks here and there to eat and deal with things around the house BUT YOU ALL ARE SO FANTASTIC SO IT'S OKAY I DON'T MIND!!! Class will resume approximately 20 hours from the time of this post. __________________ We broke into a million pieces, and we can't go back......................................... But now we're seeing all the beauty in the broken glass..................................... The scars are part of me, darkness and harmony My voice without the lies, this is what it sounds like