Lesson 1 ~ 4th years

Quinn walked into Astronomy and looked around. No one was here yet so she was early. Quinn walked to one of the seats and took a seat. Quinn wondered if she had classes with either Camille or Tobias or both. She was happy they were here, it sent a smile to her face. Quinn got out what she would need for the class.

Tabi was still a little upset that Ivano had taken the exchange program this year so she was going to have to go a whole year with him in a different country than her.

Walking up to the Astronomy tower was a long haul for her with everything that was on her mind. She at least became better friends with Jamie over the summer so at least she would have someone like her to talk to.

Walking into the tower Tabi noticed that Quinn was there so she just gave her a glare and went and found a seat and waited for the professor.

Colin walked into the classroom, giving both students a kind smile and a nod.

"Hello, Welcome back, I trust that you all had a good summer, now however it is time to get back to work."

"The galilean moons, what are they?"

Camille looked in wonder as she walked in the Astronomy tower. They didn't have anything like that at Beauxbatons, and it was a nice change. She knew she was late, the professor was already there, but she had never really cared about being on time. Not on most classes, though she usually arrived early in most.

She gave the professor a small apology, though, and took a seat besides Quinn. "Hey there, Q."

Quinn smiled when she saw Camille. "Hey Cee" Quinn whispered. She raised her hand to answer the question.

"The Galilean moons are the four moons of Jupitar, it's said to be discovered in the early 1600's" Quinn answered. She thinks she was right but not sure.

Casey ran into class, a bit flustered at being late. "Sorry Professor," she murmmered. "Hey Quinn," she said, sliding into a seat next to the only person she recognized. She pulled out all of her things, hurriedly setting them out on her desk.

Quinn smiled when Casey came in after Camille. "Hey Casey" Quinn greeted back. She waited for the professor to say if she was right or not. Although Quinn was sort of positive that she was right considering she did read about it during the summer.

Tabi listened to the teacher talk about the Galilean moons and listening to all the other noises in the room.

"They were so named for Galileo, the one who discovered them." Tabi thought she would put in her to sense.

Colin nodded to the students who answered his questions before frowning at the late comers, "Please dont' make it a habit. I will over look it this time, since its the start of the year."

"Yes the Galilean moons are Jupiters giant moons, names such for their discoverer Galileo. They are the biggest moons in the solar system, the biggest of which actually larger than some of the other planets. THey would in fact likely be considered planets, if they orbited the sun, instead of Jupiter."

"Can anyone tell me their names?"

Quinn heard the professor explain about Jupitar, he then asked a question and Quinn knew the answer. Quinn raised her hand and spoke. "The names are Lo, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto" Quinn answered. She remembered reading about the planets last year when she got transferred over.

"Yes Ms. Mikealson, those are the moons, named, as many things in our sky are, after great gods, of the past. That is something I always like to remind people, you can never forget how old Astronomy is, for the names of everything in our solar system, comes from ancient times. The tales of the constalations, and the name of our planets."

"Now, can anyone tell me which of those moons are the biggest?"

Quinn nodded at what he said. He then asked a question and Quinn raised her hand again. She thinks she knows it but isn't 100% sure. "I think the largest one is Ganymede" Quinn lowered her hand. She thinks that's it but she really wasn't sure on this particular question.

Colin nodded his head at the girl who had spoken up, smiling as she gave him the correct answer, "Yes, thank you again Ms. Mikealson. Ganymeade is the largest of Jupiters moons and as such is actually the largest natural satelite in our solar system. At its current size, it is actually larger than Mercury. Its made up of ice, and thanks the gravitational pull of Jupiter and the others around it, it contains a liquid center."

"From there, the next largest, is Calisto, Io and then tiny litte Europa."

Humming slighlty, Colin looked over the class closely, "Does anyone have nay guesses or know of any the theories - which are of course just accepted guesses - on where these four massive ice moons came from?"

Tabi thought about the answer to this and there were a couple of different ideas.

"Well sir it is believed to have formed from a circumplanetary disk, a ring of accreting gas and solid debris analogous to a protoplanetary disk"

Casey looked at the Slytherin girl with wide eyes. Even she didn't know what the girl had just said. Raising her hand, she said, "I'm not sure if this means the same thing, but some believe that the moons were formed from leftover planetary material from when Jupiter and Saturn were formed."

COlin nodded his head at the girls, "Thank you, those are both interesting theories, and of course correct in that they are thought to be a possible methods. However, no one can ever be sure on what created any thing, so theories are what they shall always remain."

"Now for today's homework, I wish each of you to focus on a spicific moon. I want you to research it, and tell me everything you can on it. What its made of, any interesting facts on it. Why its important."

Colin gave each student a level glance and then nodded his head, "You're all dismissed."

Camille listened to the professor's explanations and questions, taking notes when she should. It was no use answering any of them - she had never taken Astronomy before and had no idea what they were even talking about. Maybe she should have done some reading before class. . .

She sighed at the homework, was there anything worse than research? It seemed like a trip to the Library would be the only way. And with that thought in mind, she said a quick goodbye to the professor and left. It was better to get that started, already.

Quinn saw Camille write down notes about what he was saying. When the professor gave out the homework Quinn wrote it down. She saw Camille leave and Quinn packed up her things. She gave a small nod to the professor and left the classroom. Man, now all she needed to do was get started on her homework and she'd be home free.

Tabi got out her quill and took down the notes about the homework assignment, nice just what she didn't want to do. But that was done and she headed out and went back to the common room.

Colin chuckled slightly as the students groaned and then left, lifting his hand easily, he flopped back down in his chair and sighed slightly.

Another lesson done, another year started. Only the rest of it to go.

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Lesson One Complete