SnitchSeeker.com - View Single Post - Astronomy Lesson 1 :: Halloween Astronomy

sweetpinkpixie · 01-13-2015, 07:28 AM

Walking past the glowing floating representation of Capella as he checked his sundial watch, he hoped that they would arrive in a timely manner to come and collect the pumpkin guts that would soon be covering student desks. Collect and take back to the kitchens to make treats with for future astronomy related festivities to be announced at a later date.

Oh, but there were hands being raised and he needed to refocus.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saz Hale

Abby thought and said "Orion" Abby knew that would be right because that was a series of stars that formed in the night sky

“Excellent, Miss Valentine,” he nodded towards the Ravenclaw while he twirled his wand between his fingers. In another series of swift movements, he gave it a flick towards the blackboard and the word ORION appeared on it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fire_faerie

...
Anyways. Lesson. Night sky. "Andromeda!" she called out, because she'd already said Pleiades. Yup.

“Very good, Miss Fleming,” he saluted as the constellation’s name appeared on the board as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry174

...

Raising her hand "There's Leo I think?" Angel wasn't sure but she had heard of Leo the Lion or something along those lines to do with space and well this was Astronomy and so it was to do with space.

“Leo is a summertime constellation, meaning that it is visible in the night sky during the summer months,” he said with a small shake of the head. “It will be above us in the morning to mid afternoon on Halloween, but the light from the Sun will not make it visible to us.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holmesian Feline

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Airey now wanted information on what would be seen in the night sky on Halloween, the fifth year trying to make notice of what was now projected in the classroom concerning the appropriate half of the sky. Spotting something he thought he recognized, he opted to raise his hand to provide a response. "Possibly Pegusus..." he said before lowering his hand. So shoot him, Benny tended to remember stuff that related to animals and animal names better for some reason besides his interest in creatures.

He nodded his head approvingly at Mr. Atreyu. “Excellent,” he said, flicking his wand towards the blackboard once more. “The constellation Pegagus is one of the seven October constellations. Very good.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

...
Still grinning, his spirits lifted slightly, he continued to focus his attention on Flamsteed as he continued to address the class.

"Mars... brighter than usual,'' Adi volunteered, just randomly guessing at this, his hand in the air.

Thinking for a moment that he needed to conjure some cotton buds for the prefect to clean his ears with - only to then remember that it was only Venus he had specified as not being visible and failing to mention Mars - he kindly shook his head towards the young man.
“Mars will, unfortunately, not be visible in the evening this year,” he corrected. They could thank the fact that the planet’s orbit was the second most eccentric in the Solar System next to Mercury for that. “Whereas it was visible last year.”

But more on that another time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

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The fourth year had been sitting quietly, just watching Professor Flamsteed's excitable personality, as she took some notes ~~which mostly consisted of a sketch of the pumpkin that was on her desk~~. Halloween. Astronomy. What did expect to see on Hallow's Eve? She had no clue on constellations, but she did know muggle folklore. "Witches, Professor. It is rumoured that witches fly on their broomsticks on Hallow Eve, so they would be seen in the sky." Tia said, after raising her hand.

Rumor, huh? Airey looked around the room at each of his students, wondering just which of them would be gutsy enough to attempt this as well. Or if any of their parents had.

“Yes, that breach in the Statute does occur from time to time,” he coughed. “I must suggest you do not do such a thing. None of you need Ministry involvement on your permanent record.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScarletCharm104

Marigold copied as much of the complex chart things into her notes as possible, tongue between teeth in concentration. Add a few squiggles, and… THERE. Looked pretty similar.

Er. She wasn't really good at this. She was better at the theory. She raised her hand tentatively. "The little dipper?" Maybe? Possibly?

“Also known as Ursa Minor, yes. Very good, Miss McAlister,” he nodded as he added the constellation to the board with a flick of his wand. “You may all recall from your reading or previous terms’ lessons that Ursa Minor is one of the circumpolar constellations and thus visible year round.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yaya

Paloma stared at the three charts, blinking every once in a while to just...figure out where did all those stars and perfect timing came at the time of the end of the solstices, and the beginning of one. She raised her hand..."Umm, well, all the star clusters are lead by...the Cassiopeia constellation. From then, slowly the rest of the constellations and the planets," She pointed to the three, "...just light up the dark sky." She nodded, trying to assure herself that she had said a correct thing.

He nodded eagerly at the seventh year. “Another circumpolar constellation, yes. Very good.” TO THE BOARD IT WENT!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

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Kate finally tore her eyes away from the wonderment of the room and raised her hand. "Aquarius?" she asked. Kate had read once where it was only visible in the fall of the year, and October was the fall of the year. After she said that, she went back to staring at the sky in amazement. One day, she wanted to conjure a room full of stars, too!

“Correctomundo,” he saluted the first year as the name appeared on the board. “Aquarius is another of the seven October constellations, very good.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suziella

Bleu searched the map really hard. She thought she recognized a few of the constellations, but sometimes it was so hard to tell which was which. Then she landed on one she knew right away.

She raised her hand and waited to be called on. "I think I see Capricorn in there." She was almost certain it was.

“You do indeedy,” he beamed at the young Hufflepuff, flicking his wand towards the board. “Although, I prefer that we refer to the constellation as Capricornus, if you do not mind.” While often called Capricorn by many, including those working in the field of astronomy, it was most often called such in relation to its role in astrology. Just to help keep the distinction between the two fields more clear, of course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabben

"Pleaides... I think that's called seven something... sisters?" *He was mostly saying these things to himself as he tried to remember what his dad told him and his sister. Every Halloween night and many other nights he would take them to look at the night sky. Raising his hand he said,*
"Cygnus the swan."

“Excellent,” he nodded, wand flicked towards the board again as the word CYGNUS appeared along with the rest.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

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"I can see Uranus," and the moment he had realized how terrible that must've sounded, he started bushing. Blushing madly. Oops. Sinking down into his chair now, yup.

Coming to a dead stopped as he strolled around the room, the professor gave a tight lipped smile and peered around at the class DARING any of them to laugh at the prefect’s mispronunciation of the planet’s name.

“Yoo-RAIN-us, Mr. Adair. Yoo-RAIN-us,” he corrected, his face showing zero sense of amusement. “Or if you prefer to avoid blushing like an excited nitrogen atom at 200 km above the surface of the Earth YUR-in-us or the original Greek pronunciation of oo-RON-ohs ..never YOUR-anus.”

STARE. STAAAAAAAAAAAAAARE AT EVERYONE IN THE ROOM. Laugh. He dared you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

...

At the next question, she was not as sure as the answer but still raised her hand. "Can you see Cancer?" That was her Lion's birth sign.

“Cancer is a springtime constellation and thus visible at night during the spring months,” he pointed out to the Hufflepuff. So, no. No Cancer. Although he did use the index and middle finger on both of his hands to make crab “claws” that opened and closed as he spoke.

…

And then side shuffled away. Just like a crab.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

...

"Space." Wait, what? No. Hold on, shhhh. That wasn't his answer, let him think of another. "Polaris, probably. But that's not a constellation. But it's, y'know, around." But Airey knew that. Toby really probably should be giving some better answers today, but the pumpkins were distracting him. Or something.

Alright. So...perhaps it had not been one of his brighter ideas handing out pumpkins at the beginning of class. Especially when it came to Mr. Tempus who was seeming to be having a never ending moment with his. Oh yes. Flashbacks to Miss Cambridge were resurfacing again.

Sweet solstice.

“Yes, er, yes. Polaris. Yes.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Expecto-Penguin

...

Now what would they expect to see? He heard other student's answers and thought they all seemed logical. He went with one he kind of knew, "Professor I think you would be able to see Cassiopeia?" He hoped he said the name right? If not that would be embarrassing.

“You may see some action yet, Mr. Lecium,” he winked at the Hufflepuff. Astronomer had a few tricks up his sleeve, you see. Heh. And he was resisting very hard right now to not make some terrible joke about the constellation’s name, not at the expense of anyone, mind you. But it was just the manner in which Mr. Lecium had said it. Oh, your Divination professor is here?

He laughed at his own joke. In his head. But still manage to nod towards the young man. Yup. Cassiopeia. Could see it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Govoni

Rotate might've been the wrong word...in hindsight.

"Mars was apparently the closest to Earth as it had ever been...Though, I'm sure it's been closer in recent years..."...as that WAS 80 years ago..."...Do you think it'll continue to make closer approaches to Earth?...which wouldn't make it as big as the Moon...but like an especially bright star. Similar to Venus, for example."
...
"Orion is lit up." It was like some beacon in the stars...or something. The urge to revisit the Observatory was strong. "Aldebaran in the Taurus constellation makes it more noticeable, too."

Oh oh oooooooooooooooh! Alright, all systems go over here in the brain that was the astronut’s. Thoughts and theories are compartmentalized and clear.

“A very good question, Mr. Banner. One I am afraid I lack the time to go into full detail about,” he lamented as he checked his sundial watch quickly. “Due to Mars’ orbit being the second most eccentric in the solar system, it’s distance from the sun can vary as much as 28 million miles. Compare this to Earth’s orbit, which is nearly circular, where the distance from the Sun remains about the time. Every 780 days these two planets’ paths pass one another, something referred to as opposition due to the Earth seeing Mars in the opposite direction from the Sun, and this can be relatively close, 34.6 million miles approximately in the moment you are referring to. Three years ago on August 30 the distance was close again, closer to 35 million miles away than 34, but still close. However, it will not be until August 28, 2287 that Mars will make a closer “visit” to Earth.” He had gone on far too long about this already. “For those of you interested in reading about this further, I suggest looking at your textbook in the chapter on Mars. Specifically the section about its orbit.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by fanficfanatict

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No attention span meant ridiculous answers. His floppy hand flew up in the air, "Professor does what we see from Earth during this period affect anything in the actualness of space?" Like, was this all something they just perceived or were things ACTUALLY changing.

Because you can't trust your senses. First rule of, well, everything.

Wait...what? Slytherin boy say what?

Airey couldn’t tell if this was meant to be some deep philosophical question...or more of of a question of clarification of the 3D model they were all existing in in this moment. “Would you, ahem, care to clarify what you mean, Mr. Hughbert?”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hey Ju

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The Slytherin swated at whatever that was and only after a moment was that she noticed it was a 'star'. Hm. That was pretty cool, actually. But that didnt mean Agatha was going to participate in the lesson with words. The fifth year just sat there, admiring the beauty of the constelations inside the room. She was even listening to some of her classmates' answers.

It was a bit unnerving, you know? This particular Slytheirn being quite. In the dark. Made him think that perhaps she was ………………………….

……………………………………

………………………………………………………………………… up to something.

He cautiously walked passed her.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sararara

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More space questions. UHM. Norah looked at the pictures but really couldn't tell anything useful from it so she sat fiddling with her quill as she listened to the other students' answers. How did they just KNOW all that stuff about constellations?

He gave the young Hufflepuff an encouraging smile. Slightly questionable if she could actually see said smile due to the dim lighting, but the glow of a nearby star may have illuminated his face enough for her to be able to see.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hera

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Instead, for the time being, he flipped through his textbook and took the notes from the chart diagram things.

...

Lesson be hard man.

And he had apparently crush Mr. Zeke’s dreams. Or something. No matter. Nothing a little bit of scooping out pumpkin guts couldn’t hurt!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meizzner

His favorite astronomer. Dante had to wrack his brain to even remember one of them. Who was that guy with the two G's with the awesome beard. He only say one picture of the guy and that is what he remembers.

"Oh, Galileo. He has one awesome beard"

Besides all the Astro stuff he did.

Now onto class stuff. So it had to do with it being like a half way point. A pit stop. Well that was a little interesting. It will be more interesting when they start carving pumpkins Just a little bit.

"The Universe...Professor Airey, What is your favorite constellation?"

Might as well ask a question instead of guessing constellations that might not even be there.

Airey subconsciously rubbed his well shaven chin at the mention of beard. Although, technically, well shaven was a bit of a misconception since growing stubble alone was a bit difficult for the astronomer. Beard? Entirely out of the question.

Alas.

“My favorite?” he choked, hand flying to his chest in a dramatic manner. “That is like asking a parent who their favorite child is! Well, a parent with more than one child. Not that I have any of those to understand the feeling.”

Stop talking, Flamsteed. Just stop talking.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpiritWolfe Malfoy

...

It was actually beautiful. Tilting her head back to get a better look she raised her hand to answer. "Ursa Major?" Hady wasn't a hundred percent sure on it but it was a good guess, right?

And he had stopped talking - although his ears were not a lovely shade of red thanks to the thought of children. His ears probably matched Mr. Adair’s face right now, actually.

“ExCELLent,” he praised the Slytherin, his voice cracking mid sentence from nerves. “Yes, Ursa Major. Another circumpolar constellation. Very good.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

Caleb never understood how ancient people saw shapes in the stars. It was cool, though, and he loved looking at it. It took him a while to find a good map that he could use to find that Pleaides thing Flamsteed had mentioned and then raised his hand.

"I think you can see Taurus. The constellation, obviously," he explained with a smile.

“Certainly can,” he nodded, checking the blackboard to make sure that the constellation was listed there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

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She climbed from her desk and struck a heroic pose. "I see Orion, facing off against the raging bull Taurus! And behind the bull, you see the seven sisters! I love that story!" Rawr. Time to throw the pumpkin out the window?

Airey LOVED Miss Wojack’s enthusiasm and threw her two very excited thumbs up. “STELLAR, Miss Wojack,” he praised - even if he had meant for them each to list just one thing they saw. She had touched on something very important that would be discussed further later on in the term.

But he did want to pause here to talk a bit more about Pleiades since many students had brought it up before. With another flick of his wand, the professor enlarged that area of the 3D model so students could see it a bit better.

source: NASA

“Pleiades. The Seven Sisters. Several of you have mentioned this star cluster already. It was very important to the Celts as it was believed to be the portal to the supernatural world.” Which had already been discussed. “They believed that when Pleaides was directly overhead at midnight and the moon was full, that the portal would open and it was time to celebrate Samhain. Now, as I already mentioned before, it will not be a full moon on the 31st this month, but terribly close.” Cue some eerie, and completely unnecessary, noises coming out of the astronomer’s mouth. “But, Pleiades will not be directly overhead...and this is due to something called precession of the equinoxes.”

Another term that they would be wise to look up in their textbooks. Hint hint.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Optimist

Puck raised her hand into the air almost instantly as really, there were some constellations that she knew things about. Her eyes were already transfixed on the almost V-shaped star cluster.

“Professor one of the star clusters just below Pleiades is called Hyades…its known to be the head of the bull in the Taurus constellation.” She grinned it was one of her favorite for its characteristic V shape and brightness.

Waving his wand once more, Airey returned Pleiades to its “normal” size and turned his attention to the Gryffindor prefect. “Also known as the half-sisters to the Pleiades,” he nodded, tapping his nose with his index finger. “It is interesting to note that this particular star cluster has been been known since prehistoric times and even mentioned by many classical authors including Homer.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessiqua

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As she looked at the night sky, she could only see one thing she knew. At least… she thought it was there. She raised her hand and waited for Professor Flamsteed to call on her, then said "Professor, I see Pluto," in a not-quite-confident voice. She couldn't actually point out any constellations or anything… Pluto was all she could do.

Again. He DARED people to get emotional. Looking at you, Mr. Tempus.

“Very good, Miss Burton. You can indeed see the dwarf planet, Pluto,” he nodded.

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsgisselx3

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Oliver squinted his eyes a bit and looked really hard to see if any of the stars made something that was obvious to the naked eye...nope. All he saw was a...a squiggly line? But it was a really loooong squiggly line...wasn't that something? Not sure but raising his hand anyway, he waited to be called on and said, "I think I see....uh...the snake thing?" HEHE. Y'know. Slytherin. Snake. Yeah.... But after taking a pause to think, he realized it wasn't a snake because it didn't have a head. "Wait. Waitwaitwait. No.....it's........." What was really long and didn't have a head in the stars again???? "THE RIVER! It starts with an E. Eri-....Eri something!" HE KNEW HE WASN'T CRAZY. IT WAS A THING. HE HAD READ ABOUT IT THAT ONE TIME.

Airey leaned forward on to his tip toes, nearly stumbling forward as he waited to see if the young man could spit out the constellation that was clearly on the tip of his tongue. So close. SO CLOSE!

“Eridanus, Mr. Kyle,” he winked. “Very good.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemon

WOAH, why were there suddenly stars everywhere? What was a Cross-Quarter day? Was he supposed to be listening to Professor Top Hat's rambling? Because he wasn't; Dima was still thinking about pumpkins. Also bugs. Pretty sure he saw one near that girl's chair over there.

Um, constellations? What about things INSIDE constellations?

"I think that asterism up there looks like a pumpkin, sir. I bet called Jack-O'-Lantern."

Nailed it.

Creative. Almost endearing even. Airey simply walked by the Ravenclaw and gave him two awkward pats on the head. Yes. Good little Ravenclaw.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandomRaven

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Bianca didn't know much about constellation except Pegasus. "I think I did see Pegasus there." She spoke to him.

“You sure as salt can!” he nodded. Sure as salt? Where had that come from? Oh well, already said. Too late to take back now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonea

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Now she stared really desperate at the teacher… Was she drooling? Feeling with her hand if she wasn’t she shook her head and sighed AGAIN! Raising her hand, not to give a answer but to just… confess that she didn’t had understood latterly one thing about this lesson because she didn’t wanted to get in trouble she spoke slowly, frowning and looking troubled… “Eh… I can’t answer your question because I haven’t understood anything from this lesson… It’s like as if you’re talking in another language at the moment…” spoke she worried.

WAS SHE CRYING!? SWEET SOLSTICE PLEASE SOMEONE TELL HIM SHE WASN’T CR----- Oh no wait. Those were not tears. Just drool? He could handle that.

“Astronomy terminology can be very difficult,” he nodded. “I would be more than happy to go over terms with you after class.” And he could assure her that what was coming next would be something that she could handle. Promise. Astronomer’s honor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixStar

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Back to the question. AJ wasn't even sure what it was, but she was going to say something anyways. Her mouth was another part of her body that didn't always cooperate. Her hand slowly went into the air. "Star dust?" Was that a thing? Or maybe she was thinking about saw dust. Oh man. Her mind was not in a good place to be answering questions. Maybe the silent approach would be better.

MISS VALENTINE HAD TOUCHED ON HIS ABSOLUTELY FAVORITE THING ABOUT THE UNIVERSE! WAS SHE AWARE?! WAS SHE?!

WAS SHE?!

Well, she was about to be.

“Star dust is EVERYWHERE, Miss Valentine! EVERYWHERE! It is in you, in me, in everyone and everything! For we are all made of star stuff!”

He was about to go into the monologue that he had memorized at the young age of five, but there was another raised hand that silenced him. To be uttered another day!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daydreamer11

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"Orion", she said with false certainty. "Might as well be strong and wrong", Janelle thought to herself.

“Very good,” he nodded, giving the Ravenclaw a salute.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Talikins

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A scorpion. Her hand raised upward. "Is there a scorpion thing in there, or am I wrong? Cause that would be whats-it-called; oh yeah, Scorpius?" Was it clear that stars were not one of her strengths?

“Not this time of year,” he corrected gently. “Scorpius is a summertime constellation and best seen from the southern hemisphere. Bit difficult for us to see from our location, but not impossible given the right conditions.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahlooo

Errr... She blinked a few times. Things they would see on Halloween night? Evie timidly rose her hand. "The little dipper?" because... they kind of always saw the little dipper when there weren't clouds.

“Ursa Minor, yes. Very good,” he saluted the young lady. Circumpolar constellations for the win!

Quote:

Originally Posted by laurange

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Oh, but there was a model. Maybe that thing would help. Squinting at the thing, he looked back at Professor Flamsteed and raised his hand. HAND WAY UP THERE. "I think Gemini's visible?" Were you more likely to have twins if you were a Gemini? Not that Brian was a Gemini. He was a Capricorn.

Back to the topic, though, he was writing down EVERYTHING. And there was a lot of everything going on in this classroom to be writing down so he was very preoccupied here.

Airey nodded. “Just making its appearance over the horizon into the night time sky late into the evening,” he winked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicole black

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“Pegasus, it’s visible through out August until December… It’s near our moon,” Damien calmly said, pointing out the constellation’s direction. He smiled, just a little at the Professor as he spoke. No need to be sour.

It still physically pained him. The whole forcing the boy out of his suit due to a lack of Hogwarts robes. PAINED HIM. As long as there were robes next time the boy entered...he might be able to convince himself to turn a blind eye to the matter. Easily, no doubt.

“Excellent, Mr. Anderson-Belfort,” he saluted, taking two steps backwards to his one forward when a thought crossed his mind. “Would you be against my calling you Mr. AB?” Or...Mr. Anderson? For purely nerdy reasons only.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buggy-Boo

Margo was examining the charts. This was Astronomy like she had never seen before, maybe what she was interested in was astrology, Margo felt like she was lost in this world. Man, she was really struggling with this.

But she was looking at the charts, and she was doing her best to find an answer. Smiling, she raised her hand and "Does Mars look a little brighter?" Margo asked hoping she was seeing all the right things with this....maybe she didn't see the right things! But she did her best.

“Not this year,” he replied, shaking his head. “What you might be seeing is Uranus. It was the first planet to be discovered by early astronomers, after all.” Pause as he once again DARED anyone to laugh. Immature ears. Sad times.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz

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Eden had no idea. They were expected to seee...stars? Right? But this was just too obvious that Eden didn't even want to MENTION it. She just..sigh. Well. She raised her hand. "I do see a few constellations. Like the Big Dipper--" yet. Another obvious answer, but Eden didn't KNOW what else to say.

So there.

She contributed.

“Technically speaking,” he said with a grin. “The Big Dipper, also known as the Plough, is not a constellation but an asterism and are the brightest of the seven stars in the constellation Ursa Major.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by feeheeheeny

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"When I look at it, I see... well, generally speaking, our endless possibilities for our future and what we can achieve as the human race. Countless galaxies to discover and learn more about, and so many wondrous facts of things that are out there that we haven't even touched upon yet. Things beyond our imagination right now." An abstract thinker, she was, and she entirely blamed him and his night sky creation in their classroom. Her eyes were twinkling with the utmost delight and curiosity as she answered, and she managed to offer up a little innocent shrug for taking her own creative liberties with his question. Well, hadn't he SAID they weren't limited to constellations? Heh. She was just saying.

And he saw the same things looking back at you, Miss Brown. Endless possibilities for a very bright future ahead of her. At least that was his hope for her. He had no reply for her, just a smile and approving nod as he walked by and on to the next student with a raised hand.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Team ronmione

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Nope. Finn had trouble with constellation stuff. Unless he was holding a map, one that said the constellations names and where they were at, he would be struggling. So he sat there, moving his pumpkin between his hand, carefully rolling it on his desk, quietly. He'd keep himself distracted until Professor Flamsteed continued with his lesson and answering his students guesses. That's the learning part of the class.

Which did not belong to this young man. He did nod his head towards the Slytherin. Good attentive listening. Always appreciated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carpediem

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"There's the moon and a lot of stars in the sky, especially if you live out in the country like I do. It's like one of the last nights where the sky really LIGHTS up." Bam, a normal Ophelia answer.

Not what he had been expecting for a response, but he still smiled for the Ravenclaw. “Light pollution does tend to ruin the whole stargazing experience.” That was what she had been referring to, yes?

Quote:

Originally Posted by griffin

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Back to astronomy now... Halloween. Constellations. Not thinking about cats. Penelope was totally focused on the astronomy lesson.

Did she seem a bit...terrified? Sweet solstice what had he done now to spook Miss Wright? He was just going to oh so casually side step his way past her desk and, er, try not to spook her further...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deezerz

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Setting her quill down and shaking out her hand, she raised it up. "There's Pegasus." She pointed with a nimble finger. Right theeere. The one that looked like a kite. As well as Orion and Ursa Major and others, but Pegasus was her favorite for reasons.

Airey did some pointing as well. Just for fun. And because he just so happened to be standing right next to the particular constellation at this moment. “Very good, Miss Wayne,” he nodded to the prefect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wood'sLittleFlower

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"Professor? Can we see Sirius yet? And Canis Major?"

.......... did she miss a piece of lint?

Stare.

“You seriously can see Sirius,” he grinned, strutting over to the constellation Canis Major along the eastern border of the classroom and poked at the brightest star in the immediate area.

Looking around for any other raised hands and seeing none, Airey walked back to his desk and slowly raised his wand to bright the lights up a bit. With another flick of his wand, he added a few more constellation names to the list students had put together just now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by the black board

Constellations
Andromeda
Aquarius
Canis Major
Capricornus Capricorn
Cassiopeia
Cepheus
Cygnus
Eridanus
Gemini
Grus
Hyades
Lacerta
Octans
Orion
Pegasus
Piscis Austrinus
Taurus
Ursa Major/Minor

Star Clusters
Pleiades
Hyades

Planets
Saturn
Uranus
Pluto (dwarf)

Checking his sundial watch once more, Airey looked up at the class with an eager grin.

“If you have any questions on any of this, I would love to hear them. If there are none, well, time to put conversation aside and get our hands a little dirty. Everyone, wands out,” he instructed as he raised the lights further and the floating 3D model of the night sky vanished, seemingly teleporting them all out of space and back into the classroom. “Now, muggles use these handy dandy pumpkin carving kits when working with pumpkins. I have found that these tend to break rather easily so we shall be using our wands. Reason for pumpkin carving will become clear in a moment, so while you all ponder over that notion, I would like you to prepare your pumpkins. To do so you will perform a simple spell that will make your wand act like a small knife. The incantation is Punktumus and you need only say it as you try to cut through the surface of the pumpkin,” he continued as he picked up the pumpkin from his own desk and held it in his hand. “You’ll want to cut a somewhat circular shape approximately 5 cm in radius from the stem. Just place your wand on one spot, apply just a little pressure and….Punktumus,” he said, pushing down as his wand went right down into the pumpkin as though it were a knife. “Never fear, your wand is an extension of yourself and therefore will not cut you,” he continued as his wand moved up and down until he had cut a lid. “Once you’ve removed the top, then you need to scoop out the pumpkin’s guts using your hands and place them on your desk. Not to worry, someone will be along shortly to clean all that up for us.”

All clear?

“It may take a try or two to get the incantation and cutting motion right, but a little patience and you’ll be fine. You may begin when you are ready." And if there were any question they were welcome to ask.

OOC: I am terribly sorry for the delay. I had this post nearly done hours ago and then a computer glitch/power flicker made me lose ALL of it so I had to start entirely over ;____________;

This is step 1 of a mini activity - I will post step 2 sometime tomorrow PST. Steps to be taken by your character are:
casting Punktumus successfully (failing miserably is also fine but there should be NO serious injuries because of this spell)

cutting a lid in the pumpkin provided

cleaning it out and dumping the goo on the desk (HUZZAH!)

You can accomplish these steps in as many posts as you would like, so take your time and interact with each other! Once step 2 is posted you CAN still work on step 1, so there is no rush <3

Got a question? Please do not hesitate to ask me OOC via VM or PM or IC of Professor Flamsteed

01-13-2015, 07:28 AM	#147 (permalink)
sweetpinkpixie SSRPG Admin Gladrags Mod Quibbler Mod Minister for Magic Alley Proprietor Sea Serpent Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: The Paths Posts: 41,294 Hogwarts RPG Name: Professor Cox Ravenclaw Graduated Hogwarts RPG Name: CJ Miller Gryffindor Third Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Nyle Harden Hufflepuff Sixth Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Iris Harden Ravenclaw Sixth Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Calliope Barrington Slytherin Fifth 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 Walking past the glowing floating representation of Capella as he checked his sundial watch, he hoped that they would arrive in a timely manner to come and collect the pumpkin guts that would soon be covering student desks. Collect and take back to the kitchens to make treats with for future astronomy related festivities to be announced at a later date. Oh, but there were hands being raised and he needed to refocus. Quote: Originally Posted by Saz Hale Abby thought and said "Orion" Abby knew that would be right because that was a series of stars that formed in the night sky “Excellent, Miss Valentine,” he nodded towards the Ravenclaw while he twirled his wand between his fingers. In another series of swift movements, he gave it a flick towards the blackboard and the word ORION appeared on it. Quote: Originally Posted by fire_faerie ... Anyways. Lesson. Night sky. "Andromeda!" she called out, because she'd already said Pleiades. Yup. “Very good, Miss Fleming,” he saluted as the constellation’s name appeared on the board as well. Quote: Originally Posted by Harry174 ... Raising her hand "There's Leo I think?" Angel wasn't sure but she had heard of Leo the Lion or something along those lines to do with space and well this was Astronomy and so it was to do with space. “Leo is a summertime constellation, meaning that it is visible in the night sky during the summer months,” he said with a small shake of the head. “It will be above us in the morning to mid afternoon on Halloween, but the light from the Sun will not make it visible to us.” Quote: Originally Posted by Holmesian Feline ... Airey now wanted information on what would be seen in the night sky on Halloween, the fifth year trying to make notice of what was now projected in the classroom concerning the appropriate half of the sky. Spotting something he thought he recognized, he opted to raise his hand to provide a response. "Possibly Pegusus..." he said before lowering his hand. So shoot him, Benny tended to remember stuff that related to animals and animal names better for some reason besides his interest in creatures. He nodded his head approvingly at Mr. Atreyu. “Excellent,” he said, flicking his wand towards the blackboard once more. “The constellation Pegagus is one of the seven October constellations. Very good.” Quote: Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 ... Still grinning, his spirits lifted slightly, he continued to focus his attention on Flamsteed as he continued to address the class. "Mars... brighter than usual,'' Adi volunteered, just randomly guessing at this, his hand in the air. Thinking for a moment that he needed to conjure some cotton buds for the prefect to clean his ears with - only to then remember that it was only Venus he had specified as not being visible and failing to mention Mars - he kindly shook his head towards the young man. “Mars will, unfortunately, not be visible in the evening this year,” he corrected. They could thank the fact that the planet’s orbit was the second most eccentric in the Solar System next to Mercury for that. “Whereas it was visible last year.” But more on that another time. Quote: Originally Posted by PhoenixRising ... The fourth year had been sitting quietly, just watching Professor Flamsteed's excitable personality, as she took some notes ~~which mostly consisted of a sketch of the pumpkin that was on her desk~~. Halloween. Astronomy. What did expect to see on Hallow's Eve? She had no clue on constellations, but she did know muggle folklore. "Witches, Professor. It is rumoured that witches fly on their broomsticks on Hallow Eve, so they would be seen in the sky." Tia said, after raising her hand. Rumor, huh? Airey looked around the room at each of his students, wondering just which of them would be gutsy enough to attempt this as well. Or if any of their parents had. “Yes, that breach in the Statute does occur from time to time,” he coughed. “I must suggest you do not do such a thing. None of you need Ministry involvement on your permanent record.” Quote: Originally Posted by ScarletCharm104 Marigold copied as much of the complex chart things into her notes as possible, tongue between teeth in concentration. Add a few squiggles, and… THERE. Looked pretty similar. Er. She wasn't really good at this. She was better at the theory. She raised her hand tentatively. "The little dipper?" Maybe? Possibly? “Also known as Ursa Minor, yes. Very good, Miss McAlister,” he nodded as he added the constellation to the board with a flick of his wand. “You may all recall from your reading or previous terms’ lessons that Ursa Minor is one of the circumpolar constellations and thus visible year round.” Quote: Originally Posted by Yaya Paloma stared at the three charts, blinking every once in a while to just...figure out where did all those stars and perfect timing came at the time of the end of the solstices, and the beginning of one. She raised her hand..."Umm, well, all the star clusters are lead by...the Cassiopeia constellation. From then, slowly the rest of the constellations and the planets," She pointed to the three, "...just light up the dark sky." She nodded, trying to assure herself that she had said a correct thing. He nodded eagerly at the seventh year. “Another circumpolar constellation, yes. Very good.” TO THE BOARD IT WENT! Quote: Originally Posted by Anna Banana ... Kate finally tore her eyes away from the wonderment of the room and raised her hand. "Aquarius?" she asked. Kate had read once where it was only visible in the fall of the year, and October was the fall of the year. After she said that, she went back to staring at the sky in amazement. One day, she wanted to conjure a room full of stars, too! “Correctomundo,” he saluted the first year as the name appeared on the board. “Aquarius is another of the seven October constellations, very good.” Quote: Originally Posted by Suziella Bleu searched the map really hard. She thought she recognized a few of the constellations, but sometimes it was so hard to tell which was which. Then she landed on one she knew right away. She raised her hand and waited to be called on. "I think I see Capricorn in there." She was almost certain it was. “You do indeedy,” he beamed at the young Hufflepuff, flicking his wand towards the board. “Although, I prefer that we refer to the constellation as Capricornus, if you do not mind.” While often called Capricorn by many, including those working in the field of astronomy, it was most often called such in relation to its role in astrology. Just to help keep the distinction between the two fields more clear, of course. Quote: Originally Posted by Gabben "Pleaides... I think that's called seven something... sisters?" He was mostly saying these things to himself as he tried to remember what his dad told him and his sister. Every Halloween night and many other nights he would take them to look at the night sky. Raising his hand he said, "Cygnus the swan." “Excellent,” he nodded, wand flicked towards the board again as the word CYGNUS appeared along with the rest. Quote: Originally Posted by ArianaBlack ... "I can see Uranus," and the moment he had realized how terrible that must've sounded, he started bushing. Blushing madly. Oops. Sinking down into his chair now, yup. Coming to a dead stopped as he strolled around the room, the professor gave a tight lipped smile and peered around at the class DARING any of them to laugh at the prefect’s mispronunciation of the planet’s name. “Yoo-RAIN-us, Mr. Adair. Yoo-RAIN-us,” he corrected, his face showing zero sense of amusement. “Or if you prefer to avoid blushing like an excited nitrogen atom at 200 km above the surface of the Earth YUR-in-us or the original Greek pronunciation of oo-RON-ohs ..never YOUR-anus.” STARE. STAAAAAAAAAAAAAARE AT EVERYONE IN THE ROOM. Laugh. He dared you. Quote: Originally Posted by Squishy ... At the next question, she was not as sure as the answer but still raised her hand. "Can you see Cancer?" That was her Lion's birth sign. “Cancer is a springtime constellation and thus visible at night during the spring months,” he pointed out to the Hufflepuff. So, no. No Cancer. Although he did use the index and middle finger on both of his hands to make crab “claws” that opened and closed as he spoke. … And then side shuffled away. Just like a crab. Quote: Originally Posted by Felixir ... "Space." Wait, what? No. Hold on, shhhh. That wasn't his answer, let him think of another. "Polaris, probably. But that's not a constellation. But it's, y'know, around." But Airey knew that. Toby really probably should be giving some better answers today, but the pumpkins were distracting him. Or something. Alright. So...perhaps it had not been one of his brighter ideas handing out pumpkins at the beginning of class. Especially when it came to Mr. Tempus who was seeming to be having a never ending moment with his. Oh yes. Flashbacks to Miss Cambridge were resurfacing again. Sweet solstice. “Yes, er, yes. Polaris. Yes.” Quote: Originally Posted by Expecto-Penguin ... Now what would they expect to see? He heard other student's answers and thought they all seemed logical. He went with one he kind of knew, "Professor I think you would be able to see Cassiopeia?" He hoped he said the name right? If not that would be embarrassing. “You may see some action yet, Mr. Lecium,” he winked at the Hufflepuff. Astronomer had a few tricks up his sleeve, you see. Heh. And he was resisting very hard right now to not make some terrible joke about the constellation’s name, not at the expense of anyone, mind you. But it was just the manner in which Mr. Lecium had said it. Oh, your Divination professor is here? He laughed at his own joke. In his head. But still manage to nod towards the young man. Yup. Cassiopeia. Could see it. Quote: Originally Posted by Govoni Rotate might've been the wrong word...in hindsight. "Mars was apparently the closest to Earth as it had ever been...Though, I'm sure it's been closer in recent years..."...as that WAS 80 years ago..."...Do you think it'll continue to make closer approaches to Earth?...which wouldn't make it as big as the Moon...but like an especially bright star. Similar to Venus, for example." ... "Orion is lit up." It was like some beacon in the stars...or something. The urge to revisit the Observatory was strong. "Aldebaran in the Taurus constellation makes it more noticeable, too." Oh oh oooooooooooooooh! Alright, all systems go over here in the brain that was the astronut’s. Thoughts and theories are compartmentalized and clear. “A very good question, Mr. Banner. One I am afraid I lack the time to go into full detail about,” he lamented as he checked his sundial watch quickly. “Due to Mars’ orbit being the second most eccentric in the solar system, it’s distance from the sun can vary as much as 28 million miles. Compare this to Earth’s orbit, which is nearly circular, where the distance from the Sun remains about the time. Every 780 days these two planets’ paths pass one another, something referred to as opposition due to the Earth seeing Mars in the opposite direction from the Sun, and this can be relatively close, 34.6 million miles approximately in the moment you are referring to. Three years ago on August 30 the distance was close again, closer to 35 million miles away than 34, but still close. However, it will not be until August 28, 2287 that Mars will make a closer “visit” to Earth.” He had gone on far too long about this already. “For those of you interested in reading about this further, I suggest looking at your textbook in the chapter on Mars. Specifically the section about its orbit.” Quote: Originally Posted by fanficfanatict ... No attention span meant ridiculous answers. His floppy hand flew up in the air, "Professor does what we see from Earth during this period affect anything in the actualness of space?" Like, was this all something they just perceived or were things ACTUALLY changing. Because you can't trust your senses. First rule of, well, everything. Wait...what? Slytherin boy say what? Airey couldn’t tell if this was meant to be some deep philosophical question...or more of of a question of clarification of the 3D model they were all existing in in this moment. “Would you, ahem, care to clarify what you mean, Mr. Hughbert?” Quote: Originally Posted by Hey Ju ... The Slytherin swated at whatever that was and only after a moment was that she noticed it was a 'star'. Hm. That was pretty cool, actually. But that didnt mean Agatha was going to participate in the lesson with words. The fifth year just sat there, admiring the beauty of the constelations inside the room. She was even listening to some of her classmates' answers. It was a bit unnerving, you know? This particular Slytheirn being quite. In the dark. Made him think that perhaps she was …………………………. …………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………… up to something. He cautiously walked passed her. Quote: Originally Posted by Sararara ... More space questions. UHM. Norah looked at the pictures but really couldn't tell anything useful from it so she sat fiddling with her quill as she listened to the other students' answers. How did they just KNOW all that stuff about constellations? He gave the young Hufflepuff an encouraging smile. Slightly questionable if she could actually see said smile due to the dim lighting, but the glow of a nearby star may have illuminated his face enough for her to be able to see. Quote: Originally Posted by Hera ... Instead, for the time being, he flipped through his textbook and took the notes from the chart diagram things. ... Lesson be hard man. And he had apparently crush Mr. Zeke’s dreams. Or something. No matter. Nothing a little bit of scooping out pumpkin guts couldn’t hurt! Quote: Originally Posted by Meizzner His favorite astronomer. Dante had to wrack his brain to even remember one of them. Who was that guy with the two G's with the awesome beard. He only say one picture of the guy and that is what he remembers. "Oh, Galileo. He has one awesome beard" Besides all the Astro stuff he did. Now onto class stuff. So it had to do with it being like a half way point. A pit stop. Well that was a little interesting. It will be more interesting when they start carving pumpkins Just a little bit. "The Universe...Professor Airey, What is your favorite constellation?" Might as well ask a question instead of guessing constellations that might not even be there. Airey subconsciously rubbed his well shaven chin at the mention of beard. Although, technically, well shaven was a bit of a misconception since growing stubble alone was a bit difficult for the astronomer. Beard? Entirely out of the question. Alas. “My favorite?” he choked, hand flying to his chest in a dramatic manner. “That is like asking a parent who their favorite child is! Well, a parent with more than one child. Not that I have any of those to understand the feeling.” Stop talking, Flamsteed. Just stop talking. Quote: Originally Posted by SpiritWolfe Malfoy ... It was actually beautiful. Tilting her head back to get a better look she raised her hand to answer. "Ursa Major?" Hady wasn't a hundred percent sure on it but it was a good guess, right? And he had stopped talking - although his ears were not a lovely shade of red thanks to the thought of children. His ears probably matched Mr. Adair’s face right now, actually. “ExCELLent,” he praised the Slytherin, his voice cracking mid sentence from nerves. “Yes, Ursa Major. Another circumpolar constellation. Very good.” Quote: Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom Caleb never understood how ancient people saw shapes in the stars. It was cool, though, and he loved looking at it. It took him a while to find a good map that he could use to find that Pleaides thing Flamsteed had mentioned and then raised his hand. "I think you can see Taurus. The constellation, obviously," he explained with a smile. “Certainly can,” he nodded, checking the blackboard to make sure that the constellation was listed there. Quote: Originally Posted by Cassirin ... She climbed from her desk and struck a heroic pose. "I see Orion, facing off against the raging bull Taurus! And behind the bull, you see the seven sisters! I love that story!" Rawr. Time to throw the pumpkin out the window? Airey LOVED Miss Wojack’s enthusiasm and threw her two very excited thumbs up. “STELLAR, Miss Wojack,” he praised - even if he had meant for them each to list just one thing they saw. She had touched on something very important that would be discussed further later on in the term. But he did want to pause here to talk a bit more about Pleiades since many students had brought it up before. With another flick of his wand, the professor enlarged that area of the 3D model so students could see it a bit better. source: NASA “Pleiades. The Seven Sisters. Several of you have mentioned this star cluster already. It was very important to the Celts as it was believed to be the portal to the supernatural world.” Which had already been discussed. “They believed that when Pleaides was directly overhead at midnight and the moon was full, that the portal would open and it was time to celebrate Samhain. Now, as I already mentioned before, it will not be a full moon on the 31st this month, but terribly close.” Cue some eerie, and completely unnecessary, noises coming out of the astronomer’s mouth. “But, Pleiades will not be directly overhead...and this is due to something called precession of the equinoxes.” Another term that they would be wise to look up in their textbooks. Hint hint. Quote: Originally Posted by Optimist Puck raised her hand into the air almost instantly as really, there were some constellations that she knew things about. Her eyes were already transfixed on the almost V-shaped star cluster. “Professor one of the star clusters just below Pleiades is called Hyades…its known to be the head of the bull in the Taurus constellation.” She grinned it was one of her favorite for its characteristic V shape and brightness. Waving his wand once more, Airey returned Pleiades to its “normal” size and turned his attention to the Gryffindor prefect. “Also known as the half-sisters to the Pleiades,” he nodded, tapping his nose with his index finger. “It is interesting to note that this particular star cluster has been been known since prehistoric times and even mentioned by many classical authors including Homer.” Quote: Originally Posted by Jessiqua ... As she looked at the night sky, she could only see one thing she knew. At least… she thought it was there. She raised her hand and waited for Professor Flamsteed to call on her, then said "Professor, I see Pluto," in a not-quite-confident voice. She couldn't actually point out any constellations or anything… Pluto was all she could do. Again. He DARED people to get emotional. Looking at you, Mr. Tempus. “*Very good, Miss Burton. You can indeed see the dwarf* planet, Pluto,” he nodded. Quote: Originally Posted by itsgisselx3 ... Oliver squinted his eyes a bit and looked really hard to see if any of the stars made something that was obvious to the naked eye...nope. All he saw was a...a squiggly line? But it was a really loooong squiggly line...wasn't that something? Not sure but raising his hand anyway, he waited to be called on and said, "I think I see....uh...the snake thing?" HEHE. Y'know. Slytherin. Snake. Yeah.... But after taking a pause to think, he realized it wasn't a snake because it didn't have a head. "Wait. Waitwaitwait. No.....it's........." What was really long and didn't have a head in the stars again???? "THE RIVER! It starts with an E. Eri-....Eri something!" HE KNEW HE WASN'T CRAZY. IT WAS A THING. HE HAD READ ABOUT IT THAT ONE TIME. Airey leaned forward on to his tip toes, nearly stumbling forward as he waited to see if the young man could spit out the constellation that was clearly on the tip of his tongue. So close. SO CLOSE! “Eridanus, Mr. Kyle,” he winked. “Very good.” Quote: Originally Posted by lemon WOAH, why were there suddenly stars everywhere? What was a Cross-Quarter day? Was he supposed to be listening to Professor Top Hat's rambling? Because he wasn't; Dima was still thinking about pumpkins. Also bugs. Pretty sure he saw one near that girl's chair over there. Um, constellations? What about things INSIDE constellations? "I think that asterism up there looks like a pumpkin, sir. I bet called Jack-O'-Lantern." Nailed it. Creative. Almost endearing even. Airey simply walked by the Ravenclaw and gave him two awkward pats on the head. Yes. Good little Ravenclaw. Quote: Originally Posted by RandomRaven ... Bianca didn't know much about constellation except Pegasus. "I think I did see Pegasus there." She spoke to him. “You sure as salt can!” he nodded. Sure as salt? Where had that come from? Oh well, already said. Too late to take back now. Quote: Originally Posted by Sonea ... Now she stared really desperate at the teacher… Was she drooling? Feeling with her hand if she wasn’t she shook her head and sighed AGAIN! Raising her hand, not to give a answer but to just… confess that she didn’t had understood latterly one thing about this lesson because she didn’t wanted to get in trouble she spoke slowly, frowning and looking troubled… “Eh… I can’t answer your question because I haven’t understood anything from this lesson… It’s like as if you’re talking in another language at the moment…” spoke she worried. WAS SHE CRYING!? SWEET SOLSTICE PLEASE SOMEONE TELL HIM SHE WASN’T CR----- Oh no wait. Those were not tears. Just drool? He could handle that. “Astronomy terminology can be very difficult,” he nodded. “I would be more than happy to go over terms with you after class.” And he could assure her that what was coming next would be something that she could handle. Promise. Astronomer’s honor. Quote: Originally Posted by PhoenixStar ... Back to the question. AJ wasn't even sure what it was, but she was going to say something anyways. Her mouth was another part of her body that didn't always cooperate. Her hand slowly went into the air. "Star dust?" Was that a thing? Or maybe she was thinking about saw dust. Oh man. Her mind was not in a good place to be answering questions. Maybe the silent approach would be better. MISS VALENTINE HAD TOUCHED ON HIS ABSOLUTELY FAVORITE THING ABOUT THE UNIVERSE! WAS SHE AWARE?! WAS SHE?! WAS SHE?! Well, she was about to be. “Star dust is EVERYWHERE, Miss Valentine! EVERYWHERE! It is in you, in me, in everyone and everything! For we are all made of star stuff!” He was about to go into the monologue that he had memorized at the young age of five, but there was another raised hand that silenced him. To be uttered another day! Quote: Originally Posted by Daydreamer11 ... "Orion", she said with false certainty. "Might as well be strong and wrong", Janelle thought to herself. “Very good,” he nodded, giving the Ravenclaw a salute. Quote: Originally Posted by Talikins ... A scorpion. Her hand raised upward. "Is there a scorpion thing in there, or am I wrong? Cause that would be whats-it-called; oh yeah, Scorpius?" Was it clear that stars were not one of her strengths? “Not this time of year,” he corrected gently. “Scorpius is a summertime constellation and best seen from the southern hemisphere. Bit difficult for us to see from our location, but not impossible given the right conditions.” Quote: Originally Posted by sarahlooo Errr... She blinked a few times. Things they would see on Halloween night? Evie timidly rose her hand. "The little dipper?" because... they kind of always saw the little dipper when there weren't clouds. “Ursa Minor, yes. Very good,” he saluted the young lady. Circumpolar constellations for the win! Quote: Originally Posted by laurange ... Oh, but there was a model. Maybe that thing would help. Squinting at the thing, he looked back at Professor Flamsteed and raised his hand. HAND WAY UP THERE. "I think Gemini's visible?" Were you more likely to have twins if you were a Gemini? Not that Brian was a Gemini. He was a Capricorn. Back to the topic, though, he was writing down EVERYTHING. And there was a lot of everything going on in this classroom to be writing down so he was very preoccupied here. Airey nodded. “Just making its appearance over the horizon into the night time sky late into the evening,” he winked. Quote: Originally Posted by nicole black ... “Pegasus, it’s visible through out August until December… It’s near our moon,” Damien calmly said, pointing out the constellation’s direction. He smiled, just a little at the Professor as he spoke. No need to be sour. It still physically pained him. The whole forcing the boy out of his suit due to a lack of Hogwarts robes. PAINED HIM. As long as there were robes next time the boy entered...he might be able to convince himself to turn a blind eye to the matter. Easily, no doubt. “Excellent, Mr. Anderson-Belfort,” he saluted, taking two steps backwards to his one forward when a thought crossed his mind. “Would you be against my calling you Mr. AB?” Or...Mr. Anderson? For purely nerdy reasons only. Quote: Originally Posted by Buggy-Boo Margo was examining the charts. This was Astronomy like she had never seen before, maybe what she was interested in was astrology, Margo felt like she was lost in this world. Man, she was really struggling with this. But she was looking at the charts, and she was doing her best to find an answer. Smiling, she raised her hand and "Does Mars look a little brighter?" Margo asked hoping she was seeing all the right things with this....maybe she didn't see the right things! But she did her best. “Not this year,” he replied, shaking his head. “What you might be seeing is Uranus. It was the first planet to be discovered by early astronomers, after all.” Pause as he once again DARED anyone to laugh. Immature ears. Sad times. Quote: Originally Posted by kayquilz ... Eden had no idea. They were expected to seee...stars? Right? But this was just too obvious that Eden didn't even want to MENTION it. She just..sigh. Well. She raised her hand. "I do see a few constellations. Like the Big Dipper--" yet. Another obvious answer, but Eden didn't KNOW what else to say. So there. She contributed. “Technically speaking,” he said with a grin. “The Big Dipper, also known as the Plough, is not a constellation but an asterism and are the brightest of the seven stars in the constellation Ursa Major.” Quote: Originally Posted by feeheeheeny** ... "When I look at it, I see... well, generally speaking, our endless possibilities for our future and what we can achieve as the human race. Countless galaxies to discover and learn more about, and so many wondrous facts of things that are out there that we haven't even touched upon yet. Things beyond our imagination right now." An abstract thinker, she was, and she entirely blamed him and his night sky creation in their classroom. Her eyes were twinkling with the utmost delight and curiosity as she answered, and she managed to offer up a little innocent shrug for taking her own creative liberties with his question. Well, hadn't he SAID they weren't limited to constellations? Heh. She was just saying. And he saw the same things looking back at you, Miss Brown. Endless possibilities for a very bright future ahead of her. At least that was his hope for her. He had no reply for her, just a smile and approving nod as he walked by and on to the next student with a raised hand. Quote: Originally Posted by Team ronmione ... Nope. Finn had trouble with constellation stuff. Unless he was holding a map, one that said the constellations names and where they were at, he would be struggling. So he sat there, moving his pumpkin between his hand, carefully rolling it on his desk, quietly. He'd keep himself distracted until Professor Flamsteed continued with his lesson and answering his students guesses. That's the learning part of the class. Which did not belong to this young man. He did nod his head towards the Slytherin. Good attentive listening. Always appreciated. Quote: Originally Posted by carpediem ... "There's the moon and a lot of stars in the sky, especially if you live out in the country like I do. It's like one of the last nights where the sky really LIGHTS up." Bam, a normal Ophelia answer. Not what he had been expecting for a response, but he still smiled for the Ravenclaw. “Light pollution does tend to ruin the whole stargazing experience.” That was what she had been referring to, yes? Quote: Originally Posted by griffin ... Back to astronomy now... Halloween. Constellations. Not thinking about cats. Penelope was totally focused on the astronomy lesson. Did she seem a bit...terrified? Sweet solstice what had he done now to spook Miss Wright? He was just going to oh so casually side step his way past her desk and, er, try not to spook her further... Quote: Originally Posted by Deezerz ... Setting her quill down and shaking out her hand, she raised it up. "There's Pegasus." She pointed with a nimble finger. Right theeere. The one that looked like a kite. As well as Orion and Ursa Major and others, but Pegasus was her favorite for reasons. Airey did some pointing as well. Just for fun. And because he just so happened to be standing right next to the particular constellation at this moment. “Very good, Miss Wayne,” he nodded to the prefect. Quote: Originally Posted by Wood'sLittleFlower ... "Professor? Can we see Sirius yet? And Canis Major?" .......... did she miss a piece of lint? Stare. “You seriously can see Sirius,” he grinned, strutting over to the constellation Canis Major along the eastern border of the classroom and poked at the brightest star in the immediate area. Looking around for any other raised hands and seeing none, Airey walked back to his desk and slowly raised his wand to bright the lights up a bit. With another flick of his wand, he added a few more constellation names to the list students had put together just now. Quote: Originally Posted by the black board Constellations Andromeda Aquarius Canis Major Capricornus Capricorn Cassiopeia Cepheus Cygnus Eridanus Gemini Grus Hyades Lacerta Octans Orion Pegasus Piscis Austrinus Taurus Ursa Major/Minor Star Clusters Pleiades Hyades Planets Saturn Uranus Pluto (dwarf) Checking his sundial watch once more, Airey looked up at the class with an eager grin. “If you have any questions on any of this, I would love to hear them. If there are none, well, time to put conversation aside and get our hands a little dirty. Everyone, wands out,” he instructed as he raised the lights further and the floating 3D model of the night sky vanished, seemingly teleporting them all out of space and back into the classroom. “Now, muggles use these handy dandy pumpkin carving kits when working with pumpkins. I have found that these tend to break rather easily so we shall be using our wands. Reason for pumpkin carving will become clear in a moment, so while you all ponder over that notion, I would like you to prepare your pumpkins. To do so you will perform a simple spell that will make your wand act like a small knife. The incantation is Punktumus and you need only say it as you try to cut through the surface of the pumpkin,” he continued as he picked up the pumpkin from his own desk and held it in his hand. “You’ll want to cut a somewhat circular shape approximately 5 cm in radius from the stem. Just place your wand on one spot, apply just a little pressure and….Punktumus,” he said, pushing down as his wand went right down into the pumpkin as though it were a knife. “Never fear, your wand is an extension of yourself and therefore will not cut you,” he continued as his wand moved up and down until he had cut a lid. “Once you’ve removed the top, then you need to scoop out the pumpkin’s guts using your hands and place them on your desk. Not to worry, someone will be along shortly to clean all that up for us.” All clear? “It may take a try or two to get the incantation and cutting motion right, but a little patience and you’ll be fine. You may begin when you are ready." And if there were any question they were welcome to ask. OOC: I am terribly sorry for the delay. I had this post nearly done hours ago and then a computer glitch/power flicker made me lose ALL of it so I had to start entirely over ;____________; This is step 1 of a mini activity - I will post step 2 sometime tomorrow PST. Steps to be taken by your character are: casting Punktumus successfully (failing miserably is also fine but there should be NO serious injuries because of this spell) cutting a lid in the pumpkin provided cleaning it out and dumping the goo on the desk (HUZZAH!) You can accomplish these steps in as many posts as you would like, so take your time and interact with each other! Once step 2 is posted you CAN still work on step 1, so there is no rush <3 Got a question? Please do not hesitate to ask me OOC via VM or PM or IC of Professor Flamsteed __________________ 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