Astronomy #1 (OPEN TO STUDENTS)

[professors]

Professor Sinistra sat at her desk as she waited for her students to file and take their seats. A few of them lingered to talk for just a moment. Checking the time, she found that they still had a few minutes before they needed to be seated and quiet, so she figured that she would go on and allow it, but just this once as it was only the first day back in classes. Waiting the extra ten minutes before starting her class, Aurora went over her lesson plan for the day to make sure it would cover everything she needed it to. The first lesson wasn't going to be a tough one, just covering some constellations so the students would know what to look for should the subject come up on their exams. Unlike the years before, she wanted to try starting this term with a light workload, Merlin knew that the other professors would be piling it on them the first few weeks as it was.

Now she didn't want the students to think she would be an easy teacher, things would certainly be picking up as the term went on. Double checking her plans and seeing that everything was indeed in order Professor Sinistra clapped her hands to get the attention of her students "Alright, everyone to your seats." She ordered, pleased as those who were talking to friends behind them turned to face the front, and those who weren't properly seated found a spot at sat. Once it seemed like she had the attention of everyone in the room she cheerfully said "First off, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our first years," She picked out a few faces she had seen being sorted the evening prior "as well as welcoming everyone else back to Hogwarts, this is going to be a wonderful year." She smiled at the students she had been teaching for a few years now. 

"Today we'll be starting off fairly simple." She pointed her wand at the board at the front of her classroom. The word Constellations appeared and was underlined with a flourish of her wand. With the greetings out of the way, Professor Sinistra thought it was best to get into business. This was a class after all, and in class you were expected to do something relevant to that subject. Underneath her underlined word, her instructions for the day magically appeared in her neat scroll "You're going to take at least four constellations, you can pick more if you would like, and write an essay on how they got their names along with how the Zodiac signs relate to Astronomy." Professor Sinistra searched the faces of her students, looking for any signs of protest. When none came she continued "It doesn't matter the length of your essay, but I expect it to be more than a few sentence scribbled on some parchment." She looked around for any protests once more "You have until the end of class, you may begin." Aurora said with an air of finality, signaling for them to begin their assignment as she returned to her desk, planning for the next days lesson as her students got to work.



(OOC: Okay, how we're going to do this is you're not required to post in classes, but each character who posts in this thread will be awarded points towards their house. Each participating member may not submit different essays for more than one character under one account. What we mean to say is that if you have multiple characters you want to throw in, you must submit their work under the account name for that character. It just keeps things from getting too complicated for staff members to distribute points properly. We understand that no one wants to do extra homework, and this is not a homework site so we're not asking for anything spectacular. All we ask is that you have at least a paragraph, but the longer the essay the more points your house will be awarded. Your character does not need to be enrolled in the class for them to participate in this thread. Please submit your assignments below and have fun. You have until September. 31)

[trista marie watkins]

Constellations and The Zodiac
By. Trista Watkins

The names of constellations are of Latin origin, dating back to the age of the Romans Empire, but the meaning of their names go back to past civilizations. Some of the names are named to suit more modern times. Telescopium, or The Telescope, is the perfect example of this. By the nineteenth century the boundaries of Constellations became so obscured by other astronomers that names and boundaries were assigned to eighty-eight constellations. All constellations are made up of stars, each with different names, and most have a story that follows the name of that star or constellation. Narrowing down the eighty-eight constellations to just a select group has not been an easy feat, but it can be done.

My first constellation of choice is Canis Major, or the Great Dog constellation. The stars of the Canis Major are Sirius (which is actually a double star), Adhara, Wezem and Murzim, and then there's M41 (which is just a star cluster). It is said that Canis Major follows Orion, its mythical master, across the southern winter sky. My second constellation Gemini, also known as the twin constellation. Legend has it that Gemini was named for the two sets of twins, brought into this world by the queen of Sparta. It is said that one set was fathered by her husband, and the other by Zeus, but all four were raised together and two of the boys became inseparable. In the legends, Castor was killed by some landowners, leaving Pollux inconsolable and begging for Zeus to kill him so he could join his brother. They say that Zeus was moved by Pollux's love for his brother, and allowed them to spend the rest of eternity together. Thus we have the constellation Gemini. The brightest star of Gemini is Pollux, the second brightest is Castor. The other stars in the constellation are Athena and Wasat. You will most commonly find Gemini in Mid-Winter, floating above and to the right of Orion.

The third constellation I have chosen is Scorpius, also called The Scorpion. The brightest star in Scorpius is Antares which is placed right in the center of the constellation. This main star is at least fifteen times the size of the sun. The other stars that make up Scorpius are Shaula and Sargas as well as star clusters like M4, M6 and M7 (being the brightest star cluster). My fourth constellation is Orion, or The Hunter. The brightest star in Orion is Betelgeuse, a red supergiant, of the highest class of star. The second brightest star in this constellation is Rigel followed by Bellatrix and Saiph. The other stars that make up the constellation Orion is M42 or the Orion Nebula. My fifth and final choice is Ursa Major, or the Great Bear constellation.  The Ursa Major is most commonly known as the home of the big dipper. The stars that make up the constellation are Alkaid, Mizar, Alioth, Dubhe, Phad, Merak and the star clusters M81 and M82. You can most commonly see Ursa Major is in the spring over the northeastern horizon.

Most witches and wizards start their day by checking their horoscopes in the Daily Prophet, but the twelve constellations are no more important to astronomers than the other seventy-six. The significance of the zodiac stems from the fact that the ecliptic runs through these twelve groups of stars. Since they have been known to "wander" since ancient times, it has been reasoned that these constellations must be important to be part of the path that the sun, planets, and other smaller stars seem to follow. It is a common belief of astronomers that happenings, such as Jupiter and Mars meeting within the charging bull of Taurus, are omens and representations of the gods themselves.

[professors]

Date has been extended to October. 31