Lego is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the launch of the first Harry Potter movie by releasing a giant Lego version of Hedwig, Harry’s owl. Let’s celebrate some Harry Potter science.
Saturday: One minor Harry Potter character actually has two
well-known star names: Regulus Arcturus Black, the brother of Sirius Black who
is Harry Potter’s godfather. Regulus Black was a former follower of Voldemort,
the bad guy of the Harry Potter series. However, Regulus tried to dissociate
himself from Voldemort and was killed. In the sixth book, Harry found an
important note written by someone known only by the initials R.A.B. Hmmm.
R.A.B. Regulus Arcturus Black perhaps? Regulus the star is right in line with
the Sun at this time of year so it is not visible. Arcturus, the second
brightest star visible in the nighttime sky in Washington and at Hogwarts, is
three fists held upright and at arm’s length above the western horizon at 10:00
p.m.
Sunday: In The Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter takes his
astronomy O.W.L. (Ordinary Wizarding Level) and claims to see Venus in the sky.
Unfortunately, Venus was not up in June of 1996 when Harry would have been
observing. Luckily, Venus is above the horizon for us now. It is a half fist
above the western horizon at 9:00 p.m.
Monday: Bellatrix Lestrange is Sirius Black’s cousin. But,
certainly not kissing cousins. They are killing cousins. Bellatrix kills Sirius
in a fight at the Ministry of Magic. Bellatrix the star is the third brightest
star in the constellation Orion the hunter. It is three fists above the
east-southeastern horizon at 5:00 a.m.
Tuesday: Of course, Bellatrix is in cahoots with “he who
must not be named”. Now, that’s a poorly written sentence, using an obscure
synonym for “conspiring” and a vague reference. I must be under the curse
“writicus dreadfulium”. Clearly this is the work of Tom Riddle, whose mother is
named Merope Gaunt. Merope is a star in the Pleiades, an open star cluster
about five and a half fists above the east-southeastern horizon at 5:00 a.m.
Wednesday: Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter’s young nemesis, is
related to Sirius Black. Draco’s mother, Narcissa Black (Sirius’ cousin),
helped develop a plan to trap Harry at the Ministry of Magic in the fifth book.
Draco’s namesake, the constellation Draco the dragon, is one of the largest
constellations in the sky, winding around the North Star. Draco’s head is a
four-sided figure nearly straight overhead at 9:00 p.m.
Thursday: Antares, the brightest star in the constellation
Scorpius, is one and a half fists above the south-southwestern horizon at 9:00
p.m. Draco Malfoy was so impressed with this constellation name that he used it
for the first name of his son. At this same time, Jupiter is about one fist
above the east-southeastern horizon and Saturn is about one and a half fists
above the southeastern horizon. Both are to the left of the waxing gibbous
Moon.
Friday: Not every woman in the Black family is evil. Let’s
focus on the good. Andromeda Black, Bellatrix’s sister, is a good witch and the
mother of Tonks, a young witch from the last few Harry Potter books. (If these
Harry Potter references are confusing, you better start reading the books.)
Andromeda the constellation is an interesting one. It contains the Andromeda
galaxy, the most distant object visible with the naked eye from a dark site. To
locate the Andromeda Galaxy, first find the Great Square of Pegasus. At 11:00
p.m., the left hand corner of the square is four fists above the eastern
horizon. Less than two fists to the left and down a little bit is another star
the same brightness as the star at the corner of the square. From that star,
hop about a half a fist up to a star that is about one fourth as bright. Less
than another half fist in the same direction is a fuzzy oval patch of light
known as the Andromeda Galaxy. The galaxy is impressive to see in binoculars.
It consists of about one trillion stars and is 2.5 million light years away. If
you are having trouble seeing the Andromeda Galaxy, shoot for an easier target.
The positional information in this column about stars and
planets is typically accurate for the entire week. For up to date information
about the night sky, go to https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/planner.cfm.
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