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

Back to classes, after some lovely holidays. We’re currently in that glorious week or so where I’m entirely caught up on all my marking and correspondence, I’ve had plenty of time for research on the tower, and quite my share of social outings and other enjoyments. Never does last more than a week or two, but that’s all to the good, really, as it means there’s something new to look forward to.

CCF, YPL, and guests:
It is time to turn our attention to our next outing, on January 28th. The event will be an all-day outdoor strategy event held off Hogwarts grounds, with three teams, each lead by a group of our CCF students (for whom the event is mandatory).

For all who wish to attend there will be a required planning meeting on January 21st at 2pm. The day of, we will depart at 9am, and return around 4pm. CCF students will be expected to attend a post-event debriefing following our return, finishing by dinner time.

We welcome:
- Our guests, as team participants.
- Third year and non-CCF fourth year students as team participants.
- A limited number of first and second year students to assist with various tasks.

Due to logistics, we have a more limited number of places for this event than our usual. Everyone participating should be comfortable with extended outdoor exposure and exertion, skilled with at least one long-duration warming charm, and be willing to work together in assigned teams to reach a mutual goal. Previous active participation in YPL events and recent behaviour will be used to determine attendees if we have more interest than places.

If you wish to be considered, please sign up on the board outside my office no later by 8am on Sunday.

On another note:
I’ve also been thinking about my past year. I’ve never particularly subscribed to resolutions, as much as goals, but I am quite pleased with the ongoing growth of the YPL and CCF programmes, the completion of the chart projection charm project (and related publication), and the usual progress in teaching and learning that happen all the time in my classroom.

This coming year, I’m looking forward to a new research project (made possible by a shiny new telescope) and continuing the work of the past few years in a variety of areas.

Students: I’m delighted to announce a new resource.

As some of you know (particularly my N.E.W.T students who’ve been giving me feedback on some samples), I’ve been working for the past two and a half years on a way to project a portion of the night sky and hold it for study and teaching (steadily, without ongoing need for concentration). I’m delighted to say I’ve reached a point where I believe the work is ready for regular classroom use.

Now, this does not replace our observation time (since you will still need to learn how to use your own telescopes and make your own observations). And, of course, no matter how good or how detailed my created images of the night sky are, they do not contain everything: only what I myself knew at the time I made the image. (And thus, it does not include ongoing or emerging stellar events, comets or meteors, or other things of that kind.)

However, I do think it will be an excellent resource in a number of situtations:
- to illustrate a point in class, so you can make more effective use of your observation time.
- to ilustrate more clearly things that cannot readily be seen with student telescopes.
- to make it easier to study or review before tests (both my own exams, and for O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. exams).

And of course, it will give us some additional options on cloudy nights without completely losing class time.

This option has limits: it takes me at least half an hour to link a combination of charms and create an image for each area, and it can be much longer for a more complicated or detailed piece of the sky. I plan to add another couple each week, until we have a well-stocked library of examples (focusing first on materials of use for O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. students, and then moving on to items covered regularly in the rest of the curriculum.)

Projections can be checked out by permission during hours I’m in my office, and an updated list of projections will be posted by my door each week. My classroom is available for their use, and I’ve also had the house-elves clean out a space on the floor directly below, as the projections are best viewed without distracting items behind them. (You’ll notice a large white sheet hung in a corner of my classroom for this purpose as well.)

If anyone is interested in the theory behind the project, I have an article in the next issue of the Journal of Modern Magical Theory and Experiment that explains some of the details, and I’d be glad to share my copy of the submitted version. Just stop by my office!