5:2 Important Moons in Solar System

Professor Harrington was one of the more kind and understanding Professors. When it came to students in her younger years being late to class, she knew it was a long flight up; but as some students in her fifth-year lesson slid through the door at the last second, she gave herself a chance to give them a pointed look before turning to the class. “Kia ora, hello and good evening students. Welcome back to Astronomy, I know last week we jumped right into the Moon and this week we are continuing with important moons of the Solar System,” Professor Harrington said pulling out her notes.

Notes appeared on the board once again and Sarah began to read from her notes going through each of the moons she had listed on the board. The students seemed to take notes throughout the lesson and paid attention, for the most part. She enjoyed teaching about the moons, it was a fun conversation and she couldn’t wait till the end of the lesson.

Spoiler: Class Board Notes

Enceladus
Orbits: Saturn
Facts: One of the brightest objects in the Solar System, due to its surface of water ice that reflects almost 100% of the Sun’s light. Features an ocean of water under its ice surface. Has potential for harboring life, along with large geysers spewing out icy bits and water vapor. The wobble in its orbit is evidence of a liquid interior.

Europa
Orbits: Jupiter
Facts: Just a fraction smaller than the Moon. Possibly the smoothest objects in the Solar System, with very few craters. The thick surface features red-brown deposits in a fractured pattern. Also has a possible ocean below its surface. The core has geological activity and produces eruptions of water into space.

Ganymede
Orbits: Jupiter
Facts: Largest moon in the Solar System, even larger than Mercury. Has a molten core that has produced its magnetosphere within that of Jupiter. Has a thought atmosphere surrounding the moon.

Io
Orbits: Jupiter
Facts: The most volcanic body in the Solar System, and Jupiter’s third-largest moon. Has an elliptical orbit, that it is forced into by Ganymede and Europa. The moon is also tidally locked like our Moon, causing incredible forces to bulge out the solid surface by as much as 100m. The result is that the moon is almost entirely molten. Volcanoes erupt nearly 190 miles into the atmosphere, easily filling any impact craters.

Titan
Orbits: Saturn
Facts: Titan is the second-largest moon in the Solar System. The only moon is known to have a thick atmosphere, dense enough that the core is completely obscured by the nitrogen and methane clouds. Lakes and rivers of ethane and methane are filled by rains from the orange clouds. This would be a very hostile place for us to visit.

Finishing with the Moons on the board Sarah looked over her students. “Of course, there are many more moons in the Solar system, Jupiter alone has at least 79 visible with our telescopes and Saturn 62. I will expect you all to do studying on your own time and become familiar with the largest moons of each planet, up to the fifth largest. Now Mars has two, so don’t complain, that’s already three fewer moons you have to study. Now up to the tower, we are going to point our telescopes to Jupiter tonight, I want you all to locate the four largest moons, also referred to as the Galilean moons,” Professor Harrington said before she started to wave her hands to have the students gather their things and move up to the viewing tower with their telescopes. The rest of the lesson progressed normally as the students gazed up towards Jupiter. She moved around helping students locate the moons and also how to tell the difference between each of the four large moons.


This Week:
Please post an attendance post with your student!
The "homework" mentioned is not necessary, and material outside of what is in the lessons or study guides won't be on the exam.

 

[Eoin Armati]

Eoin forced back a yawn as he walked into his second Astronomy lesson and quietly slipped into his seat. He wasn't surprised they were going to be sticking with learning about the different moons of the solar system, but he supposed he wasn't going to complain. The moons of other planets were not something he already knew much about, so at least he would be learning something new. Pulling out his notes, Eoin started jotting down everything that was on the board, not wanting to accidentally miss something as no doubt some of this was going to be on his OWLs. He'd already started studying for them just to make sure he was going to pass. While he might not be a fan of magic and Hogwarts in general, he didn't want to end up failing all his exams.

Once they were done with note-taking, they were told to head up to the tower so they could look at Jupiter and find some of the larger moons. Eoin didn't enjoy the stargazing as much as he did just the note-taking, but he supposed it was a nice breath of air as he did the work. Once he had located the moons and jotted them down, he continued to look around until they were dismissed, at which point, he headed back down the stairs and grab his things and leave the classroom.

 

[Jordan Harris]

The semester was off to a good start. Jordie knew there was a lot coming up, with a prefects event, there was an upcoming game, the ball, and of course his exams were this semester as well. Jordie knew there was a lot riding on this semester. He couldn't slip up now. As much as he knew Ares and his friends worried, he just couldn't let up. He had too much riding on this semester.

He was quick to get his things together and head for class. Astronomy was thankfully one of his more relaxed lessons, one he did well in without having to try very hard. The lesson was relaxing. He took a few notes, looked through his telescope, located and identified the proper moons. He felt pleased with his performance. Soon enough class had ended. Jordie gathered his things and went back to his dorm, ready for bed.

 

[Branson Archer]

This would be an important Valentines day and he felt pretty bad, knowing that he couldn’t spend as much time dedicated to it as he might’ve in any other year, because after all this was his OWL year and he was in the semester now where he needed to at least try and focus on his exams. He was still clearly going to be learning plenty but it was just more to add to the revision he was trying to also do. Truly just a lot of work that needed to be done. A lot of things needed to be caught up with and now too he had Valentines day, but even if he had a lot that needed to be done he wasn’t going to miss the dance, goodness no. He loved the dance, and this year he had a double reason to like it, both of which were Blair. But he would like it otherwise, they were just additional reasons to like it. The ravenclaw was gathering up the last few bits and pieces that he would need for the day before heading out of the dorm room and straight to the first lesson of the day.

Branson walked into the astronomy classroom and took his usual spot in the class. He glanced up at the professor as he finished taking out his books and notes. He grabbed the parchment from the week before and placed it down in front of him as the professor began the lecture where they were building on what they’d done in the previous week. He took his quill and began writing down what the professor was lecturing them about the moons that were listed. There were a good number of moons. Of course Bran had known that some planets had lots of moons but it was interesting to hear more about some of them, certainly there would be no time to hear about all of them. Eventually the lecture wrapped up the professor took them to look at the moon from the telescope, Branson had problem seeing what he was supposed to and needed some help from the professor. He much preferred theory of astronomy. ​

 

[Pixie Longmire]

Pixie walked into the astronomy classroom and took the same spot at the back of the room. She took out her notes and books and placed them down next to her. She glanced at the professor as the woman got started building on what they had learnt in the week before and having them learn more about the moons. She took a couple of notes from what was being said, specifically around some of the numbers and names. They were then taken upstairs to the telescopes and were able to find one of the four largest moons. She took the time to look at the moon but was glad when the professor wrapped it up and let them leave. ​

 

[Rune Sanderson]

Rune had been gazing at the moon whenever he could after the previous lesson of Astronomy. He was trying his hardest to learn more about the phases and work harder at identifying them in person. He learned a little more, but honestly the phases of the moon did not seem to change very much during the week. At least he did not believe so. He could be wrong though. Maybe he just needed a bit more practice.

The young Hufflepuff boy wondered if he would get more practice tonight as he entered the Astronomy classroom. He went straight to the middle of the room, blending in the best that he could. He had a few minutes before the lesson began, plenty of time to take out his note taking items. He placed them on the desk as the lesson began shortly after.

The professor put plenty of notes on the board, Rune quickly copied them down. It was a lot of information, but Rune was able to get it all down as the lesson continued. They were learning about different moons in the solar system. That was news to him. He couldn't believe that some planets had so many moons when the Earth only had one. It would be a lot to remember. Luckily, he had the notes to revise later.

The lesson soon came to an end. Rune glanced at the board once more to make sure he had everything down before packing up his things. He would certainly have to study more if this would be on the OWL exam. He left the classroom, hoping that he would be able to revise as the week went on.

 

[River Hopkins-Vance]

River was finally getting back in the groove of classes after the break that felt like it would never be over. She was feeling more like herself each day she was back at Hogwarts. In some ways, she was even a little less stressed now that she had come to terms that no matter what she did, her mother would always be furious that she did not make prefect. That gave her more breathing room now than the young Slytherin had ever had in her life.

The blue-haired girl entered the Astronomy tower, letting out a content sigh at being back in one of her favourite classes. She found a seat in the front row, smiling at the professor. River began to unpack her bag, taking out her parchment, quill, and ink. It always seemed like a lot, but Astronomy was certainly a topic of a lot of information as well as enjoyable star gazing. River hoped they would be able to do the second part tonight, but it was early on in the semester.

The lesson soon began. River began to jot down notes about the vast amounts of moons that were in the solar system. She had not given much thought to other planets having moons. It did make sense though. Earth had a moon and apparently other planets had loads of them. The names were definitely more complex than Earth's simple moon. River continued to jot down notes, thankful for most of them to be on the board for spelling reasons.

Her hand was cramping a little when the lesson took a nice surprise turn. They were going to be using the telescopes after all. An instant smile fell on her face as she quickly packed up all her things. Once she had everything tucked away, River followed the professor and her classmates to the telescopes. She had not gazed at many planets outside of this class, but it was always exciting to do so.

For the rest of the lesson, River looked up at Jupiter, attempting to identify the four moons. She saw them clearly, thankfully the telescopes here at school seemed to be magic, or at least she thought. But it was a little difficult to determine which was which. River appreciated some help identifying them from the professor. Too soon the lesson was over. River put her telescope where it belonged before heading back to the classroom to grab her things. Swinging her bag over her shoulder, the young Slytherin left the Astronomy classroom.