I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.

Miss Lonsdale. My office, immediately after lunch tomorrow. No excuses. Bring your notes and materials for this term with you.

Mr Moon. My office, half-one. The same. Wait by the stairs if Miss Lonsdale and I are not yet finished.

Third and seventh years:
I'm sure you'll all be glad to hear I am cancelling class on Friday evening, the 14th. (The weather looks unpromising for outside work, and from experience, I know that inside work will be full of distractions if we try.) Third years, I'll have an additional assignment for you in class on Friday, due a fortnight later. Seventh years, kindly apply yourself to your research projects for an extra two hours or so. I've got comment on the pieces you've turned in most recently if you want to stop by and collect them.

Students attending the lecture tonight:
Please be at the ground floor floo tonight, ready to step through at 6:40. We'll be returning around 11. Please bring something to take notes on. I'll give you a quick tour of the space so you know where things are, and then I'll have some duties at the front of the room during the first part of the lecture.

This week's schedule:
Due to the lecture tonight, no office hours today. I will be in my office Tuesday evening from 7 to 9, and then the rest of the week as usual. As always, other times may be possible if needed.

Students -

It looks like tonight will be quite clear, so I’ll have the tower open as soon as it’s dark. I’ll also be available for the usual conversation and questions about astronomy and related topics. (Though, you know me. I think everything’s related to astronomy. Come ask why, if you like.) I will be out Tuesday evening for a Guild meeting, but available the rest of the week as well.

The Lyriad meteor shower is currently ongoing - I was up watching for a bit before dawn, and it was not as impressive as some years, but easier to watch after moonset.

On Thursday, there will an lunar eclipse, beginning just before 8 at night. While this particular one is not deeply interesting (being very brief and extremely partial - only about half an arc second will be occluded) it is interesting because it is the last of a saros series.

We do not normally discuss these except in my newt years, but eclipses occur in a pattern, stretching over 18 years (18 years, 11 days, 8 hours, to be precise). We can use the larger series pattern to predict both when eclipses may occur, and what form they will take, due to the interactions of three separate sequences (The synodic month, the draconic month, and the anomalistic month. For the curious, the name of the middle of those three comes from old legends about a dragon eating the moon at the eclipses.)

This is the first series I’ve had the opportunity to observe in full (given weather, of course), but I also have my notes from the last half of the previous cycle (and of course, my predecessor’s observing journals, which cover cycles long before that) for anyone interested in comparisons.

First, no assignment, but the Draconid meteor showers peak tonight and tomorrow - and due to the new moon, they should be especially visible. It looks likely to stay clear tonight, but I’m less confident about the rest of the week so come look tonight if you'd like to. (Fifth years, feel free to come up early if you like: I'll have things open around 11.)

Exams
Alas, the forecast for next week is rather dire. Rather than keep everyone up late in the hopes of a clear sky, I am planning to use the projection stones for my exams. This also means you can all get a bit more sleep. Please be at my classroom at 8:55pm on your usual night. My NEWT students, please see below.

Office hours
For those of you with last minute questions, I will have office hours on Sunday afternoon from 2-5:30pm and next Tuesday from 7-8:45pm, as well as my usual Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

My NEWT students
Sixth and seventh years: this year, I’d like to gather you all in my office on the Friday night (the 21st) at 10pm. In lieu of an exam, please be prepared to give a 2-3 minute summary of your topic to everyone present, and to submit a copy of your current research notes. (Full review will need to wait for January, but if you have questions that affect your research or reading plans for the holidays, please ask.) And of course, our Friday gathering will have the usual seasonal round of treats and conversation. We should be done by midnight, to make it easier for you all to get off promptly in the morning on the train.

For those of you who can get to New London, I am seeing if I can arrange a short tour of the Astronomy Guild and its library. Scheduling may prove too challenging, but if you are interested, please let me know which of January 2nd, 3rd, or 4th you might be available (daytimes only.)

Students - I have had a few questions about whether writing up observations about the aurora might be worthwhile (to your marks, that is.) Since I believe in encouraging you to look at the heavens and pay attention, the answer is, as always, “Yes! Please!”

Obviously, greater detail (or additional research) generally earns greater credit, but even brief observations are rewarded as long as they’re thoughtfully done and accurate. To count for this term, you can submit additional reports until the week before end-of-term exams (December 10th, this year.) If you’ve questions, please ask here, or stop by my office hours.

At any rate, I’m sorry I missed Saturday’s aurora, though Tuesday’s was delightful. Quite rare we get two inside a week. Almost makes one think there’s meat to the folklore, really.

On the rest, life does move forward, and now that matters elsewhere have settled down, I admit I’m glad to be turning my attention back to smaller and less urgent needs.

We have, in fact, formed a committee to discuss the possibility of work on an updated and significantly revised astronomy text. Due to a number of commitments for various parties, we expect this will be a lengthy project, with hopes of a new text going to print in time for the 1997-1998 school year. Cantus Deverill is chair for the project, but any of the committee (and that includes me) are glad to take comments. More info in Georg Bright’s journal.

And on a more personal note, it was a particular pleasure to see my extended family at my father’s birthday party yesterday, and an even greater joy that Raz was able to join me, and meet my aunts, uncles, and many of my cousins. (Dad: a very happy birthday and many more wonderful years to you. And to Mum, Auntie Gera, Diane, and my other siblings, brilliant show organising a lovely afternoon.)

Students -

I’ll be at the castle Tuesday afternoon and evening: those of you who’ve asked for extra feedback on research projects or practice charts, stop by during office hours, as I've finished comments on everything in hand.

The tower will likely be open after supper Tuesday for practice observations. If the weather’s bad, I’ll set up projections in the classroom.

2nd years: I’m seeing some persistent difficulties and confusions in the chartwork the Gryffindors and Slytherins turned in on Monday. Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws: please do the best you can with the assignment due Friday, but come to the midnight session Thursday night prepared to discuss your questions and turn your work in (since there’s no real time for you to any more work on it before our lecture Friday morning.)

I won’t count this assignment toward your end of term marks as long as you make a good faith effort at it. We’ll sort the confusion out and try again with the next one.

Meteors: The Orionids peak this Saturday for those who need to do observing. I’ll have the tower open Thursday evening until midnight class, Sunday evening until curfew and Monday evening until midnight class. If you’d like to be on the permission lists to be out after curfew, please let me know which day as soon as possible.

I have other commitments between supper and class on Friday night, and on Saturday, but several of my 7th years have kindly offered to open up the top of the tower until curfew if the weather’s clear. They’ll post a note in the usual places if it isn’t.

One schedule change: Due to the quarterly Astronomy guild meeting, I will not have office hours on Monday, the 29th. I will instead be available Tuesday afternoon (the 30th) from 1-3, and again from 7-9.

6th, and 7th years: Related to the above, this meeting is an excellent time for me to start talking to other astronomers about summer internships and upcoming positions. If you’re potentially interested, do talk to me by the 28th so I’m up to date on your likely availability and interests, and can remind myself of your other NEWT subjects.

First, a reminder to our fifth, sixth, and seventh years that the first of our observing opportunities for meteor showers - the Draconids - is coming up this weekend. Depending on the weather, you should have the opportunity either Sunday or Monday not too long after sunset. I’ll be up on the tower after supper both nights until around 9 for those who wish to observe.

(Again, you’re expected to do some brief observations across at least two of the three upcoming meteor showers, weather reasonably permitting. Consult your notes or come by office hours if you are still confused about my expectations. You will in all cases want to work with a partner - it makes things much easier - and doing so is required if you’re out of your dorms outside of curfew.)

Looking ahead, I will not be available on Saturday, the 20th, but the Orionids should - if the weather holds - be most visible between midnight and dawn on the 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd. Those who wish to stay up on Friday night are welcome to come up the tower at midnight if the weather’s clear (though my 3rd years will be working on a different assignment.) Pre-dawn viewing, you are on your own, but I am glad to arrange permissions as needed.

And second, just a reminder on my office hours - you all know I’m glad to be available. However, I do generally plan to be done at 9pm, and often have some other tasks calling my attention. If you have a longer or more complex question, please do come earlier in the session, or arrange a time with me privately. (I do have to have time to do all your marking, after all!)

Congratulations, all our first years, on making it through your first week. I promise, it does get easier to figure out how to manage it all.

Now that I’ve seen how some changes to my schedule have shaken out, I have posted a chart of my office hours in the usual places (my classroom and office doors, and duplicated copies in the house common rooms.)

In short:
- various daytime hours on Monday, Wednesday, Friday when I am not teaching.
- 7 to 9pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
- by request at other times.

In the past, I have offered hours - often very relaxed and conversational - on Sunday afternoons. Between changes to the YPL schedule and my own commitments, it makes sense to schedule these week by week. I also expect to be unavailable on most Tuesday afternoons and early evenings and am generally unavailable in the late afternoon. Additions to my regular hours will be announced in class that week, and posted on Mondays.

Advance warning, fifth, sixth, and seventh years, I will be asking you to make some brief (about two hours total) but specific observations and measurements during the Draconids (October 7-8), Orionids (October 20-21), or Leonids (November 16-17). All three include at least one weekend day, and the Draconids are best visible just after sunset, but your actual options will depend on the weather. (Fifth years: we will jointly pick a midnight session to skip in exchange, and I have a thought about evening sessions and bad weather that might please you - we’ll discuss next week.)

If you get the chance, take a look at the western horizon after sunset the next night or two. Mars, Saturn, and Spica are in an unusually small equilateral triangle - about six degrees of each other. One thing everyone can enjoy are the colours: the crescent moon was nearly white last night, Saturn has a golden glow, and Mars is more orange than red. Spica herself is blue-white.

Spica, for those who don’t remember, is a particularly well-matched binary star system, and the brightest star in the constellation Virgo. 6th years, we’ll be discussing Spica in September as part of our look at precession. And for those of you who are early morning risers, Venus is particularly lovely in the hours before dawn this week as well.

I finally got a chance to spend the evening at the astronomy guild hall doing some research, and had a chance to catch up with several professional colleagues while we worked. There are some exciting topics under consideration for next summer’s guild-sponsored projects. Several have pieces that would make a good focus for the NEWT year-long research projects, and possibly open up internship opportunities for next summer. For those of you more interested in locational magics, there are a few possibilities there, as well.