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: Class Notes

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.
Optional homework is a short essay on a nebula of your choosing (125 words)

 

[Mikael Nightray]

Mikael entered the Astronomy Tower, reluctant but obligated. If he was honest, this was probably the one class he could get an A in because it was likely that Theodore would be getting an A. His cousin had been getting on his nerves ever since he'd found out that Mikael had been a P student until the previous year. And now Theodore has it in his mind that he was somehow better than Mikael which seriously grated. The Slytherin knew he could get the grade he wanted if he chose to but getting lower grades have always served his purpose better. Gryffindors just really like messing up his plans. As Professor Nakamura began the lecture, Mikael’s remained distant, his expression giving little away but he listened intently. Star-forming regions, remnants of destruction—an endless cycle. The spellwork was quite impressive though, but hardly practical for anything he would need. As the class wrapped up and Professor Nakamura dismissed them, Mikael was the first to stand and leave the room.​

 

[Theodore Nightray]

Theodore currently had a favorite class and that class was Astronomy. Now it wasn't like he was particularly interested in stars and the mysteries of the galaxy. But Theo had always been of the belief that if he would be marked down for his class behavior then he was going to go down with a bang. And so he strolled into the classroom, immediately noticing the new arrangement of the chairs. "We having a seance tonight teach?" he quipped as he dropped into a seat directly in front of his cousin. For most of the lesson, he was quite content to make faces at his cousin - ranging from copying his total stoic expression (what a grump), to a lovesick fool (because Mikael totally was), to silly faces (seriously how can one's face remain so serious and frowny). He didn't know - and frankly didn't care - if the professor was noticing him trying to distract Mikael. Not that it seemed to be working against his cousin really. His Slytherin cousin really needed to loosen up instead of being constantly unflappable. He was caught by surprise though as the projection appeared in the center of the circle. "You know, if they sold this as wallpaper, I can put it in my room, I’d never get anything done. It'll be quite a distracting sight just like you," he said to one of the girls in class with a wink and shameless grin. There were quite a number of nebulae apparently, ones that Theo didn't really listen to, still his brow raised at the mention of a Giant Molecular Cloud Complex. Now that was a mouthful. "Do astronomers ever you know have more creative names for things? It'll make things interesting to remember," he said as he stood with the class now ended, "Or maybe that's just me," he said with a grin and wave as he sauntered out.​