Absorbed in her work, Professor Pascal jumped in alarm as the students filed into the room. "Ten o'clock already?" She glanced at the clock in disbelief. Quickly shuffling her papers together, she pushed them to the corner of her desk and stood up. "Good evening." She said, slightly frazzled. "Welcome to Celestial Studies. I hope you're not too tired at this time of night. Hopefully most of you received the schedule? We will meet every Monday at 10 pm, although you should expect there are certain occasions that we will need to switch nights. Cold or humid nights, for example, or nights when the moon is especially bright, may be grounds for rescheduling the class. We will spend approximately an hour with lectures and the remaining time will be spent with practical work. I suggest you all start looking over your star charts now and review them every night; they are vital to your success in this class. Your Astronomy Reference Guide: Volume I will also aid you this semester. Please review the syllabus if you have any questions." She swiftly pointed her wand at a stack of papers and they began magically distributing themselves to each student.

"Today will be a short lecture. I want everyone to repeat after me: SPECTRULATE."  She paused, listening intently for any errors. "Very good, make sure to enunciation the 'u'! Spectrulate will allow you to focus your telescope on the galaxy. To perform this spell correctly, you must stand about a foot away from your telescope. Start with your wand pointed upwards and then in a quick, fluid motion, extend your arm and wrist. If you all watch carefully, I will demonstrate..." Professor Pascal moved from behind her desk and approached the closest telescope. Following the instructions she had just described to the class, she said, "SPECTRULATE."  The telescope jerked slightly. "There you have it. This spell will also adjust the eyepiece to best fit your level of vision. It will not, however, locate different constellations or plants; you must know where they are located and be able to correctly identify them."


"We will be starting the semester off by discussing planets. There are different divisions of planets, satellites, small bodies, etc. Because our telescopes are more advanced than those of muggles, we have better knowledge about most of these bodies. For instance, the colors of some planets are actually different than what muggles have guessed. Furthermore, we have knowledge of a large planet beyond Pluto, that muggles have not yet discovered and would be unable to prove existed (although, to give them credit, they do believe other planets exist). If you can name this planet and write a fact about it on your homework, you will receive extra credit!" Trotting back to the front of the class, she flicked her wands several times at the blackboard. "Your homework is on the board behind me. I would like you all to copy it down and then pair up with another student to practice using the telescopes. It can be tricky to find planets, so I would like you all to find at least two different ones before you leave. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask."

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Please make sure to include your name, house, and the lesson name when you send me your homework (via owl only).  If you have any questions or comments, you can post in this topic

1. When does this class meet? Why would we meet at a different time? (complete sentence, 3 points)
2. What spell did we learn today in class? (short answer, 1 point)
3. What does the above spell do and what are its limitations? (complete sentences, 4 points)
4. We are able to view the galaxy better than muggles because of our telescopes. What is one guess muggles made about planets that is not accurate? (short answer, 2 point)

Please do only one of the extra credit options. You will only get credit for one if you do both.  Doing either is completely optional.

EXTRA CREDIT OPTION #1: What is the name of the planet the Wizarding World discovered and muggles still have not? List at least one fact about this planet. (complete sentences, the most creative answer may be featured in the next lesson!)

EXTRA CREDIT OPTION #2: Roleplay using the telescope and performing the spell learned in class. Mention what planets you were able to find. (complete sentences)