Closed O Holy Night PV Astronomy Internship Sept. 22nd

He took notes mentally on everyone who had entered and it seemed that quite a few were first years. Just fine, that really was, but he was slightly disappointed that the older years didn't join- with the exception of Lucia Fox. There were a few second years, okay, that was fine. He decided he would leave the door open if anyone else were to join.

A look of excitement struck his face and he decided that he would now begin to see what they know or remember about Mercury. Off the top of his head, he decided he would take the opportunity with each members that were currently there. "Okay, Lucia, give me a mission to Mercury that NASA- the american agency- had taken to explore the planet?" It was an interesting question, and he wanted an answer other than the one he talked about in class, so if Lucia truly knew of the missions that they were going to talk about this year, then she did deserve scholarly grades.

"Think carefully Lucia, trust me, there are a ton of missions out there."

Octavius took a look around to try and find Mercury in the night sky, while listening to the party with him. "Everyone, if you'll look over here," He pointed to a dot in the starry night sky. "It looks like a star, which is unfortunate, but it's Mercury, I see it, it's got a bit of a greyish tinge to it compared to the bright yellow-white colors the stars are."

It wasn't long before Professor Baird kicked things off with an out-of-the-blue question he directed at Lucia. The Hufflepuff blinked for a second, taken off guard, and tried to cast her mind back to first year astronomy. Yeah, she didn't remember any of it - but she did remember the Mercury page in her astronomy book, and something she'd read a little while ago. Just as Lucia opened her mouth, the professor spoke again, this time with a warning. Was he expecting a particular answer? The problem was, there really weren't that many Mercury missions out there; was Lucia forgetting something? And anyway, how was she supposed to know which was the right one to pick?

Hesitantly, Lucia began to list off all the missions she could remember, trying to increase her chances of getting the right one. "Um, there was MESSENGER; that did a flyby in the late 2000s and then entered orbit in the early 2010s. 2012, I think? No. 2011? And then they crashed it in 2015." Lucia paused for a second, trying to scope out the professor's reaction, then continued. "And then there's, uh, Marina... 10? Yeah, Marina 10. That one was robotic." Having grown up in the wizarding world, Lucia still wasn't entirely sure what a robot was. She knew it moved, though, like a little metal animal, and that was enough to get her through her exams. That, and the fact that they occasionally died off because they couldn't talk to Earth anymore, or they got buried. Muggle inventions were weird. "That one was in the mid-'70s. First one to visit Mercury, too. I, um, can't remember any others." In fact, Lucia was fairly sure there weren't any others, except for that one the European Space Agency had sent off in 20... 18, Lucia was pretty sure. It was just as well Professor Baird had specified NASA, because she couldn't recall anything else about it.

It seemed that Lucia was to be let off the hook for now, as Professor Baird turned everyone's attention to the planet itself, Mercury. The fifth year followed his gesture, searching for a few seconds before she found it. As Professor Baird had said, it did look a little star-like, but the different colour marked it as a planet.

It seemed the activity of the children were slowly dwindling. Unfortunate, he really wanted to hear more from every single one of them. "Guys, I have questions for all of you individually, but it's meant for all of you to answer them not particularly one singular person." He listened to every single word Lucia had said and smiled. "That.. is correct. Don't forget the mission in where BepiColombo had arrived and was the first European Space Agency (ESA) and Japanese Aerospace Agency (JAXA) orbiter that was sent up to orbit and analyze Mercury in 2018. I will happily still reward you for being correct. As BepiColombo was fairly recent, it's completely understandable how you'd miss it. Especially now that I'm teaching something that was a little different to the original classes that I bet you have taken." That said, Octavius granted her a smile, then walked over to a girl, Winona Kristiansen, someone he had met last year.

"Okay, maybe this will be more interactive. I hope it will be." He said, starting to think of two questions. "To Winona, when you compare the sun's size on Earth to a beach ball... how much bigger would the Sun be on Mercury." He was more so looking for singular digit numbers.

He smiled. "Okay, this one is for everyone. Tell me how many times Mercury has sunrises and sunsets. Once you have told me so- you can tell me why this is so. As a further hint, what shape is its orbit?"

Once he asked the questions, he handed Lucia a chocolate frog from the bowl. "Tell me who you got. I'm interested."

RP with @Octavius Baird and fellow Internship members

Reducio

RP Date September 22, 2023 Speech Reducio "Speech" 'Thoughts'

Outfit/s Reducio Pillow: Post date August 15 2023 (5:24 pm)

Professor Baird asked how many times Mercury has sunrises and sunsets and why. He also gave a hint. Ara searched through her brain for the answer until she found it, she raised her hand and said, "Mercury's highly elliptical orbit around the Sun, meaning that it is elongated rather than circular. With an eccentricity of 0.21, I remember, results in 182.63 sunrises and sunsets annually." The girl thinks of some backup information for her answer, she has read too many astronomy books. From both muggle and wizard authors.

"It rotates thrice every two times it orbits the Sun, contributing to its unique sunrises and sunsets. Mercury's rotational period is longer than its orbital period, resulting in one sunrise and one sunset every two Mercurian days."

She rethinks what she has answered and confirms it in her mind. 'Yea, I think that's right... 182.63 annually' Ara liked memorizing random things. Numbers and random facts from books were no exception. She was glad she could now use this random memorized knowledge to her advantage. She was still skeptical whether she was wrong or right. Although she confirmed it in her mind, she was still unsure about it. 'I wish I had my library right now...' she thought.

RP Word Count: 205/200

Delilah sat with her fluffy and warm blanket wrapped around her, chasing the sleep away from her eyes. Despite her love for the subject, Delilah had always been someone who took her sleep and nap time seriously. As Professor Baird posed the questions about Mercury's sunrises and sunsets and its unique orbit, Delilah's head drooped slightly, a yawn escaping her lips.

She was eager to participate, but it seemed that the allure of her warm blanket was momentarily winning the battle against her well-established sleep schedule. She watched as a classmate she didn't know very well, answered the questions with confidence and accuracy. Delilah was impressed by her knowledge but also felt a twinge of envy, wishing she had been as alert and well-prepared.

As she spoke, Delilah couldn't help but stifle another yawn. She was determined to catch up with her classmates, but the allure of her warm, fluffy blanket was almost too much to resist. She snuggled into it, finding comfort in its softness. Delilah was ready to participate, but her battle with sleep was becoming increasingly challenging.

With a whispered promise to herself to study more diligently and prepare for the next class, Delilah focused her drooping eyelids on Professor Baird's words, hoping to glean as much knowledge as she could before the cozy warmth of her blanket lured her into the dream-filled world of slumber once more.

The Astronomy Professor took a second to think. What could he do to promote engagement with his Astronomy Internees? Surely he needed to come up with some individual questions but perhaps it would also be time to call it a night. He thought about the answer Ara had come up with. She was correct.

Octavius used this opportunity for her acute knowledge to try and compliment her. "You are one day bound to be a rocket scientist, and I hope you get to be the first wizard out in space, not only that, the first from my class."

He looked at a specific student (Delilah Chapman) and he took notes of her yawning. It was perhaps too late for these students to actually stay up. Maybe he should set up an internship during the day next time they meet rather than after his classes.

"Alright guys, thank you for coming. If you choose to stay up here and sleep, that is just fine. I'll be up here to supervise but I'm going to shut up so y'all can actually get some sleep. Those who aren't staying up here to actually sleep under the stars, you may go back to your dormitories. However, because I don't trust you guys just yet, I'm going to handpick a person to lead you guys back to your common room if you're sleeping inside. Lucia, mind doing so?"