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Old 06-07-2013, 12:29 AM   #111 (permalink)
Watson


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Hogwarts RPG Name:
Addyson Lynette Dane
Ravenclaw
First Year
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Slytherindor ♛ The Crazytastic Besties ♛ Shan Watson ♛

SPOILER!!: Professor
Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie View Post

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

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

As soon as he tapped the board, two charts appeared side by side to offer students a visual reference.
SPOILER!!: chart 1




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

SPOILER!!: chart 2




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

"So we know that Cassiopeia, Ursa Major, and Ursa Minor are all constellations that revolve around Polaris. Given that it is December, what other constellations should you expect to find?" He would keep a running list.
OOC: OBVIOUSLY this took longer than my expected timeframe, but partly that is because you all gave such great answers! So thank you! This lesson will continue sometime tomorrow GMT+9 (roughly 24 hours from now?)

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

Sitting near the back of the classroom, Jo scribbled down some notes in her notebook as fellow students raised their hands to answer the Professor's questions. When the Professor began speaking again, she placed her pen on the desk next to her journal, rested her chin on her right hand, and just listened. Merlin. This class had seemed rather fast-paced for the tired Slytherin but Jojo didn't mind the pace too much because she found the subject, Astronomy, so intriguing... One day, she hoped to venture out into space, and if the muggle technology was good enough, and see the stars herself. When she was seven, Jo had a constellation poster on the top of her ceiling in her bedroom. Before heading to sleep each night, she would spend hours just gazing at the constellations as she wondered what creatures or substances could possibly exist in those areas of space.

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

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

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

Oh well....
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