Astronomy 1:5

Adorah rushed up the stairs as quick as she could, feeling extremely rushed as she arrived to her door just in time to unlock it. There were already a few students waiting, and Adorah smiled at them as they entered, taking a moment at her desk to catch her breath before it was time for class to start. "Good evening all! Tonight, we are going to gaze up at the universe. But first, we shall look at that list I promised last week, and I'd like you all to write them down." Professor Zumwalt's tone was a little more serious, as she really wanted the students to take the time writing them down. It helped with retention. "Please come during my office hours if you need any extra help as you start to prepare for your exam, which is only a few weeks away," she added.

Axis: a line about which a body rotates.
Celestial sphere: an imaginary sphere of which the Earth is the center and on which all celestial objects are considered to sit.
Ellipse: an oval shaped circle, the type of path the Earth takes around the sun.
Horizon: is what appears to be where the separation of the earth and sky is in the distance.Links provided to images of each word for reference.

"Alright, once done, I'd like everyone to get into pairs," she said, pausing for them to form their own groups. When a case of an extra student popped up, she'd allow them to join a pair. "Now, we will take a telescope up, one per group. Someone can carry it up, and another can carry it down, as they can be a little heavier than expected." Adorah began to lead them out of their classroom and up to the upper level of the Astronomy tower. She could hear excited whispering going on behind her, and she was excited to show them the sky.

"Alright, quiet down," Professor Zumwalt said with a pause to let the chatter fade down as they all stood in the viewing room. "I want you to take your telescrope and find the Southern Cross, also known as Crux. The Southern Cross contains five main stars, four of which are points of the cross. It was commonly used like Polaris, the North Star, for navigation as it is the closest to where the southern axis of the Earth points out into the stars. It will likely be in this general area over here, but don't forget to look at your books for some extra guidance." She walked around for awhile, helping the students point their telescopes in the correct direction. One pair decided to look through the wrong end, something she tried very hard not to laugh at as she corrected them. Once everyone had successfully found the constellation, with or without her assistance, she spoke up again. "Alright, I just want to mention before we go a little more about the North Star. In astronomy, we refer to it as Polaris, and it's part of the constellation Ursa Minor. This may appear in your exams so mark that down once we get back to the classroom to get our things. That's about it for today. Make sure to look over your definitions, as well!" she said, dismissing the class as she closed up the upper part of the tower.

--
For full credit, RP the lesson.
If any student or pair would like assistance, please take Adorah.

 

[Freddie Lagowski]

Freddie copied the definitions into his notebook, writing slowly on purpose. He loved going up to the observatory to look at the stars - it was just the stairs that made him nervous. And they had to carry a telescope up there? They were really heavy. What if he dropped it? What if he fell? What if he got half way and just couldn't keep going? He was going to look weak.

Looking around for a partner, he spotted Marina. Yeah. Marina. She was Ares' friend. Freddie didn't care if he was rude to Marina. He went to stand beside her in line for a telescope. "You carry it up," he said. "I'll bring it down."

Up in the viewing room, they picked a good spot and pointed their lens at the sky. Freddie flipped through his book, trying to find a good picture of the Southern Cross for reference. He tapped Marina on the shoulder. "It should look like this." When they'd both had a turn looking for it, he stuffed the book back in his bag. People were already moving their telescopes. Merlin, Freddie didn't wanna do this. He felt so so bad. But she was Ares' friend. She was probably a bully too. She deserved it. He took a deep breath. "Seeya," he said, and abandoning her with the telescope, he bolted for the stairs.
​

@Marina Vortalis
Godmod approved

 

[Marina Vortalis]

Marina’s handwriting was careful and looping, and she mouthed each word to herself - axis, celestial sphere, ellipse, horizon - before she’d finished it up and was excited to head out to explore the sky. She enjoyed the relaxing activity even if she wasn’t pleased about the fact the class was at night, but there was nothing she could do about that really. She turned when Freddie suddenly appeared by her side and asked her - no - told her to carry the telescope up the stars. It made her blink, but if he was going to carry it down she really didn’t see the problem. She helped set it up and then smiled politely at Freddie when he showed her the image. All of her experiences so far had been a little weird, she couldn’t tell if he was friendly or not, but he seemed to be trying so that was what was important, right? She looked through the telescope, amazed at the things they could see and sharpened the image until she could see what she wanted to, moving it around a little to see what else was up there. As they were packing up, she turned to ask him to grab her book for her - as he was standing right next to it - and he’d already taken off, bolting down the stairs. She stood there looking after him, stunned. Her fingers tightened on the side of the stand as she swallowed a lump in her throat, blinking quickly so no one would notice the sting behind her eyes. After a deep calming breath, she hefted the telescope up again and turned to look at the sky again. “It’s fine,” she whispered to herself. “I like the stars better anyway.”

@Freddie Lagowski ​

 

[Annika Nightray]

Annika copied down the definitions rapidly, though she was pretty sure she missed some because she was actually not a fast writer, but it’s fine she was sure she could find a book somewhere that would tell her, because she was pretty sure asking Kaeloppa was out of the question. He liked her to figure things out on her own which was annoying because she didn’t see why she couldn’t just ask for help when she needed it, right? Yeah because then she could learn it properly, but no, Kaeloppa says she needs to do it on her own. She pursed her lips, cheapskate. She paired up with someone and volunteered to carry it up the stairs - and then tried to hide the fact the telescope was heavier than she thought it was - still she felt like carrying it up was safer then carrying it down. She immediately tried to find the southern cross - “ooh I see it! Wait, no that’s a smudge, never mind,” after a bit of help from the professor, they managed to find it and she grinned as she continued to look through the telescope.​