Professor McFarlan

September 30, 2007 4:14 PM
Students at Sonora represented countries from all over the world. And only the Goddess knew where their lives would take them once they graduated. Even those who were born and would live and die in the States needed to remember the world was a much bigger place than the North American Continent. Professor McFarlan could just hear some of the grumbling now. Why are we studying this when we’re never going to use it in real life? Of course, there were those who struggled with the last assignment as they were grew up with completely different star patterns.

The professor touched the crystal and whispered the incantation to change the star field. The desks and grassy plain was still there, left from the class before. Moving the chairs in a circle and transforming them back into recliners, she nodded. It was more difficult to study and take notes in such chairs, but it made star gazing infinitely more comfortable. She looked up at the “sky”. Even though she was as intimately familiar with its constellations as the ones she saw every evening from her window, it never failed to disorient her a bit to see such an unfamiliar night sky.

She greeted the returning class enthusiastically. As exhausted as she was at the end of last term, she missed her students terribly over the summer. Her farm seems like a haven at first, but very lonely by the end of break. She came back much earlier than expected just because she needed to be around people again.

“Welcome back,” McFarlan address the class. “I hope you’ve notice a bit of a change since the last time you were here. This is a replica of the Southern Hemisphere. People who live north of the Equator never get to see the sky looking like this. There are stars and constellations unique to each hemisphere. We share some constellations, but they appear in different areas of our skies. Please see if you can spot a one or two and note the apparent change in position.

“There is no bright polar star in the Southern Hemisphere. While, the Southern Cross, or Crux isn’t exactly at Polar South, it serves the purpose for those who get their directions from the stars. In order to see Crux in the real sky, you must live south of the 30 degrees latitude. Its brightest star is Acrux. It is a blue white sub-giant and is about one hundred time brighter than our sun.

“Today, I would like you to chart and label the three circumpolar constellations. On a separate parchment, list the other two constellations besides Crux. I also would like you to tell me why Centarus is a special favorite of Astronomers everywhere and what is one of the name origin legends of Carina. You may work together in small groups or independently. If you work in groups, remember, I want individual papers from each of you, no word for word copies.”

OOC: Two paragraphs at least, please. Have Fun!
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