Sixth Years: Lesson Three

That day Professor Nakamura had sent out an announcement for the students to meet him not in the usual classroom, but at the highest level of the astronomy tower. Impressively large telescopes were set up for the students, and Professor Nakamura was excited to see them being used. It was always fascinating to watch the young engage with the stars and planets. “Welcome everyone, tonight we will be using the telescopes,” Professor Nakamura informed them with a smile.

“But first, a small lecture. The furthest planet from the Earth is Pluto, at 40AU from the Sun. Then you have the Kelper Belt, and beyond that the Oort Cloud at between 5,000AU and 100,000AU. Quite a distance, and about a quarter of the way to the nearest star. So, once we leave the solar system we change our units to light years, which is the amount of distance light can travel in a year. Also used are parsecs, which are the distance from the Sun using parallax where the angle formed is one arc per second. One arc minute contains sixty arc seconds. So, a parsec is approximately 3.26156 light years. Which leads us to tonight’s activity – measuring distances of our nearest stars!” Professor Nakamura said in an excited tone that inferred he genuinely thought applying mathematics was something to be celebrated. “Take the measurements and use maths to determine their distance from Earth. I want the answers in both parsec and light years. Do feel free to ask for help if you need it,” Professor Nakamura informed them genially.

---
Roleplay the lesson and have your student take the measurements of a nearby star for full marks.
Homework: Extra points for those who “determine” the distance to one of these stars in their post as their student. (Meaning have the parsec and light year distance to one of the stars below in your post. Google is a friend.)

Proxima Centauri
Alpha Centauri A
Alpha Centauri B
Lalande 21185
Sirius (binary star)
Luyten 726-8 (binary star)
Ross 154Ross 248

 

[Mikael Nightray]

Mikael wondered if he really should've just dropped Astronomy. It wasn't really that much of an interesting class, and he wouldn't really need it in his career of choice. Still, sometimes just being out late at night was okay. He listened idly as the professor discussed the distances of celestial bodies. Getting the calculations right wouldn't be too difficult, though why this was relevant was quite lost on him. As they were left to their own devices to practice the calculations, Mikael moved to one of the telescopes and adjusted the apparatus to be aimed at where he was sure Proxima Centauri would be at this time. Once he'd found the star, he'd written down all that he would need to perform the calculations. He repeated the steps with the rest of the stars. The conversions took a bit of time but he did manage eventually and the rest of the calculations went smoothly. By the time the professor passed him, he handed the professor his calculations and prepared to leave the class.​

 

[Theodore Nightray]

Theo strolled into the Astronomy Tower, hands in his pockets, his tie undone and his robes slightly askew, as though he had just rolled out of bed - which he probably had. The grand setup of telescopes caught his attention, and he let out a low whistle. "Professor Nakamura’s really aiming for the stars tonight," he drawled. As the professor discussed distances with the class, Theo leaned toward a classmate with a grin. "That’s about the distance my twin would send me if I ate her chocolates again." There was a lot of jargon and calculations that needed to be done, which while interesting, was also making Theo quite sleepy. He couldn't wait to just get on with the work since he was getting a bit fidgety - and yawn-y. Professor Nakamura moved on to explain distances and how to calculate them, and Theo raised his hand lazily. "Professor, quick question... How do you calculate the distance to someone’s good graces?" he said winking at his obviously annoyed cousin. When it was time to take measurements, he made sure to choose a telescope beside Mikael. It was easy enough to chart, measure, and calculate. Well, some were tricky, but Theo had never minded a challenge. When they were due to leave, he handed his work in and left with a salute, "Always a pleasure Professor Nakamura!"​

 

[June Davenport]

The blonde made her way to the classroom and was not really in the mood for astronomy, she didn't liked the subject so much anymore. But she still felt the need to continue with all classes. Perhaps next year she would have an good look at it. But June knew herself and she wanted to be the best. She listened as the professor started and mentioned they would use their telescope. She took her parchment to make some notes of the quick lecture the professor gave Which went about the planted Pluto. She made sure to put down the numbers exactly, but it was really boring to her really. She walked to her telescope and looked over to her book and notes. She chose one and tried to find the star. Ignoring that annoying Gryffindor once more. He had to stay wherever he came from, no one was waiting for him to speak. She gladly would use silencio on him once. Or ask to practice the spell once more in class. June made sure she adjusted the apparatus to Proxima Centauri she was aiming for. And managed to find the star not long after. She written down the information she needed to perform the calculations further. And went on with the rest until the time was over. And she handed him the stuff she found and left the room afterwards.

 

[Bailey Walden-Cade]

Bailey made her way straight up to the observation deck at the top of the Astronomy tower. Professor Nakamura informed them that they would be using the telescopes after a brief lecture. Professor Nakamura began his lecture discussing the solar system and the measurements between planets, it gave them a sense of the scope of the solar system and the distance to the nearest star. It was a size that Bailey couldn’t even comprehend so she wasn’t sure how she would do with the equations the professor asked them to do. She took out some parchment and got to work on the calculations, checking the telescope and writing down her findings on her parchment. Once the lesson was over and she had completed her work she turned in her calculations to Professor Nakamura and left the classroom.