Sixth Years: Lesson Five

Professor Nakamura got himself ready for the lesson, excited for this particular class. Once the students started coming in, he put down his reading materials and smiled at them as they entered. He prided himself on having a welcoming atmosphere to his classes. “Welcome back,” he greeted as they all settled into their seats, this week arranged in a circle. “Tonight, we’ll be studying nebulae.”

Professor Nakamura moved to the centre of the circle. “Nebulae are where stars are born, but also the remnants of dying stars. They consist of clouds of gas and dust, with the gas thinner than it is here on Earth. The dust particles are also different, being about one micron big. A strand of hair is one hundred times larger than that.”

Professor Nakamura moved back a little bit, then took out his wand, giving it a wave. A three dimensional representation began to emerge in the centre of the room of a nebula. “Here you see the Orion nebula,” Professor Nakamura explained. He then began to read out loud the notes for the class.

Spoiler: Lecture Content

Diffuse Nebulae: Lack a distinct border, appear to fade as you move away from the centre. Consists of three types:

• Emission Nebulae: Emit light in the visible spectrum as well as infrared and ultraviolet. Hydrogen gas emits red light, oxygen green/blue light are two main examples of the gas that is normally found in emission nebulae.
  Example: Orion Nebula
• Reflection Nebulae: The gas and dust reflects light from nearby stars back at us.
  Example: Pleiades star cluster and Messier 78 (M78)
• Dark Nebulae: Thick enough dust and gas clouds that it blocks out light.
  Example: Horsehead Nebula and B68

Planetary Nebulae: These are clouds of gas pushed out by an dying star and contain a distinct border. These outer layers of the star glow brightly while leaving behind a white dwarf star, the core of the former star. The gas forms a shell around the star, the was once confused with being similar to planets, hence their name. Example: NGC 2022 / NGC 2022

Supernova Remnants: What is left over of an exploding star. The gas and dust will slowly across millions of years form a new star.Example: The Crab Nebula

It was a lot of information to take in, but Professor Nakamura was confident his students could do it. “You might have noticed that, for the most part, we haven’t strayed from the Orion constellation. The Orion constellation actually contains something called the Giant Molecular Cloud Complex, or the Orion Complex. This consists of twenty different nebulae.” Professor Nakamura zoomed them out to show the Orion constellation, then linked the stars for those who still weren’t familiar with it. “For homework I’d like you to research a nebula, and write a short essay on the subject. Class dismissed.”
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Roleplay the lesson for full marks. Homework is a short essay on a nebula of your choosing (125 words).

 

[Emmanuel Okoye]

Emmanuel was revising a lot, with this being a more difficult year for him it just made sense that he was working just a little bit harder to ensure that he got the necessary grades. He had been getting letters almost weekly from his grandparents about the animagus stuff but he’d been sending them placating responses each time. Emmanuel was getting himself ready for the day and was grabbing everything that he needed for the classes he had. Making sure he had all the right homework and then headed to class.

Emmanuel walked into the astronomy classroom and took his usual spot in the room. His gaze moved towards the professor as the man got started. He took out his notes and books and placed them down in front of him, taking his quill to begin writing down what the professor was saying about Nebulae. He was making sure to get all of it down, both what the professor was saying and then everything that was on the board. It was all very interesting to him. Astronom remained interesting, even if he knew he’d never do much with the subject. He continued to get down what was said and then as the professor wrapped up the lesson, he took a note of the homework and then headed out of the room.