fandomhigh | Observation Lab, Wednesday Evening (starting at dusk)

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astronomy

Observation Lab, Wednesday Evening (starting at dusk)

The skies had been partly cloudly all day, but as night fell, the clouds dissipated, at least for a little while. Ellie headed up to the attic and opened up the classroom for her students and any others who might want to observe the night skies.

[ooc: open to Astronomy 101 students, of course, but any other students who want to take a look through Fandom High's brand spankin' new telescope are welcome!]

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The moon is 99% full! (http://www.calculatorcat.com/moon_phases/phasenow.php)

Billy came in, a bit late, following his chat with Blair (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomhighdorms/788966.html?view=59974374#t59974374). "Hi, sorry I'm late." he said.

"That's only 99% full?"

"It's a smidgen less than full," Ellie said with a smile. "And it's okay you're late, there's still plenty of night ahead. I'll keep the telescope open as long as there are people who want to do a viewing."

Billy kept looking through the telescope. "It's not green," he mused randomly.

"It's not made of cheese, either," Ellie laughed.

"I can see where they got the cheese bit," he said. "And the man in the moon I think. But if it's not green, where'd they get that idea?"

Gwynn, of course, had come to the lab.

"It looks so big."

Shawn peered through Maria ~~and boy does that sound weird~~ to check out 99% of the moon.

M31, the Andromeda Galaxy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andromeda_galaxy), is a barred spiral galaxy approximately two and a half million light years from Earth.

Billy wondered if the Andromeda Galaxy were even still there. It could disapear and they wouldn't even know for over two million years. "Wow..."

Parker took a look, and actually kind of enjoyed studying the different planets there. "How do scientists guess if there's life there, when it's so far away?"

"There are a trillion stars in the Andromeda Galaxy," Ellie said. "If even 1% of them have planets, and 1% of those planets have life, that's still a hundred million chances to find life. Seems like an awful big waste of space if there's nothing out there."

"It does, rather," Parker agreed, looking thoughtful. "But isn't life just one gigantic accident anyway?" She adjusted the telescope lens, and studied the lights. "Then again, if it can happen here, and elsewhere, then I guess it's not that unlikely at all."

"Your fellow classmates are proof of that," Ellie said. "Like Luke said this afternoon, he's from another galaxy. And I bet it's teeming with life, just like ours."

"Was this one named after that Andromeda in the story?"

"It's in the constellation of Andromeda," Ellie confirmed, "so it was named for her, yes."

Any requests?

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Observation Lab, Wednesday Evening (starting at dusk)

Look at the Moon

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Look at the Andromeda Galaxy

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Talk to Ellie