Astronomy

Astronomy
Class information
Professor	Satyavati Shah Aurora Sinistra Unidentified professors
Classroom	Highest level of the Astronomy Tower
Required equipment	Telescope Star chart Books Parchment Quill Wand

"They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of difficult stars and the movement of planets. "

— Harry Potter's summary of the subject

Astronomy was a subject and core class and taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Uagadou. Astronomy was the branch of magic and science that studied stars and the movement of planets. Students would also use their wands with an Orrery to predict the next eclipse, the only known practical form of magic used in the class.

Uagadou students were known to be skilled in astronomy, implying the teaching that was provided at Uagadou was excellent.

Class information

"It is increasingly rare to find a student who seeks after things celestial (of their own accord), but if you truly desire to chart the courses of the cosmos, you must rid your mind of the terrestrial babble of others. We ourselves are like blank star-charts, you know? Empty canvases waiting to be inscribed with all that the universe has to offer."

— Professor Satyavati Shah

The study of the stars

Astronomy lessons were spent observing the night skies with telescopes, as well as gaining an understanding of the various phenomena that go on in space, such as Lunar phases and Space weather. Known assignments included learning the names of stars, constellations and planets, as well as charting their locations, movements, and environments. It was a required class from year one until year five, and became an optional subject for the final two years.

Astronomy was not to be confused with the divination practice of astrology. One was concerned with mysteries stellar and lunar, the other was referred to as "mere lunacy".

It is currently unclear exactly how this subject was relevant to the education of witches and wizards, but according to Professor Shah, there was much that could be gleaned from the stars. She believed that people were like blank star charts, empty canvases waiting to be inscribed by all that the universe had to offer. Professor Shah found it increasingly rare to find a student who sought after things celestial (of their own accord). Although, some students, like Amit Thakkar, were fascinated by the concept of infinity and limitless potential, as there was always something new being discovered in space.

The great devoted stargazer's of the past erected stone slabs known as Astronomy Tables throughout the Highlands, from which they gazed toward the heavens millennia ago. They were ideal for studying constellations near and far, and they could be used to find hidden constellations. For centuries, wizardkind made use of them, but they have since become mere monuments to the intrepid intellectual pursuits of a bygone epoch. Some say the locations of the tables were originally marked by Centaurs for ritual Star gazing.

In the fifth year, the Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations were taken. During the exam, students had to fill in a blank star chart.

Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment in Diagon Alley sold telescopes and other equipment needed for Astronomy. Aurora Sinistra was the Astronomy professor at Hogwarts during Harry Potter's time as a student. She was also teaching during Jacob's sibling's time at Hogwarts.

Location and time

Classrooms

The Astronomy Tower, where this class was held

Astronomy classes took place in the highest level of the Astronomy Tower, the tallest tower in Hogwarts Castle and included sky observation sessions with telescopes (each student had to buy one of their own).

Lesson times

Year	Day	Period
First	Wednesday	midnight
Fifth		evening

Curriculum

"Astronomy is not Divination; you won't find the mysteries of the cosmos charted out on you palms or at the bottom of your tea cups. Alas, the heavens remain hazy to the starry-eyed. Now, if you were to devote yourselves to persistent and painstaking observation, you just might catch a glimpse."

— Professor Satyavati Shah scolding her students

First year

During the first year of studies at Hogwarts, students studied the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the different names of the stars and the movements of the planets. Towards the end of the 1991–1992 school year, Hermione Granger was quizzing Ron on Astronomy for preparation for their first year exams. Their studying included using a map of Jupiter. It was noted that the studies on Jupiter continued into later years, when Harry tried to learn the names of Jupiter's moons in his fifth year of study at Hogwarts.

Third year

In the 1993–1994 school year, one of the homework assignments included drawing a star chart which probably meant they studied stars that year, and they took a midnight exam at the end of the year.

Fifth year

"Harry, yours is okay except for this bit at the end, I think you must have misheard Professor Sinistra. Europa's covered in ice, not mice."

— Hermione Granger during the 1995–1996 school year

1890–1891 school year

• Constellations

1995–1996 school year

Hogwarts students studied Jupiter's moons and wrote an essay for their homework containing facts such as Europa being covered by ice and Io having many volcanoes. They filled in blank star charts and the homework during this year became intensive enough that some students had to organise a meeting to help each other get through it.

For the Astronomy O.W.L. exam in their fifth year, the written exam contained a section on Jupiter. In 1996, it was held on Wednesday morning. The practical exam took place in the evening at eleven o'clock, and each student had to "fill in a blank star chart" based on a few hours of observing the night sky.

When Harry Potter was taking the Astronomy O.W.L. in 1996, Rubeus Hagrid was confronted by Dolores Umbridge and a team of corrupt Aurors in what was an attempted sacking, which was also the night that Minerva McGonagall took "no less than four Stunners to the chest."

Sixth year

Sixth-year students studied multiple topics, including:

• Constellations, including Cetus
• Lunar phases
• Star charts
• Cosmic ages
• Space weather
• Meteor showers

Seventh year

Seventh-year students studied multiple topics, including:

• Dark cloud constellations
• Rogue planets
• Dark energy and dark matter
• Black holes and wormholes
• Jupiter's moons

Known professors

Satyavati Shah (late 1800s)

Aurora Sinistra (pre. 1985-?)

Grades

Passing grades Outstanding [O] Exceeds Expectations [E] Acceptable [A]

Fail grades Poor [P] Dreadful [D] Troll [T]

Known O.W.L.s

Aurora Sinistra

Bill Weasley

Percy Weasley

Hermione Granger

Harry Potter (May not have qualified for N.E.W.T.)

Ron Weasley (May not have qualified for N.E.W.T.)

Jacob's sibling

Penny Haywood

Behind the scenes

• During the O.W.L. exam, Harry focuses his telescope upon Venus at midnight. However, Venus's orbit is closer to the sun, and when it is midnight at a location, that part of the Earth is approximately facing completely away from the sun. Given these two facts, it is highly unlikely that Harry would have been able to see Venus regardless of Britain's high latitude and the proximity to the summer solstice due to line of sight issues, but the telescope may have been magical.
• In the films, the Astronomy class is never seen or directly mentioned, and Professor Sinistra only appears as an unidentified background extra. However, the Astronomy Tower was shown.
• From the fact that it is common knowledge among wizards that Europa is icy and Io has volcanoes, it seems that, despite the separation of wizarding and Muggle cultures (and the wizarding ignorance of other scientific concepts such as electricity), Muggle science is well-known to wizard astronomers. Just how far wizarding knowledge of modern astronomy goes, though, is unknown. However, it is quite possible that the wizarding world has other means of conducting these studies without the use of Muggle technology since Professor Trelawney possessed a globe of the solar system that accurately depicts all the planets (including Pluto) and their moons. Furthermore, Harry Potter found a moving globe of the galaxy in Diagon Alley when he was staying at the Leaky Cauldron during the summer before his third year. This far surpasses the current state of Muggle knowledge, let alone what it was in the early 1990s.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game) (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) (Mentioned only)
• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Mentioned only)
• Pottermore (Mentioned only)
• Wizarding World (Mentioned only)
• LEGO Harry Potter: Building the Magical World (Mentioned only)
• LEGO Harry Potter (Mentioned only)
• LEGO Harry Potter (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: The Creature Vault (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
• Hogwarts Legacy