I’ll admit, Astronomy was quite the obstacle for me. Every lesson felt extremely information dense, and it took a lot more thinking than other subjects to wrap my head around everything. As a result, I also found it the most rewarding, and I promise all of the theory and cold facts will all slot together if you just stick with it. If you’re struggling, Professor Plumb is quite good with answering questions, whether on his page or by owl. As of when I took the course, all of my assignments were graded very punctually, and the feedback I received was by far the most detailed I’ve gotten from any course.

One of the peculiar and fun things about the Astronomy course is how much of it is related to the Muggle world. This is for two reasons. The most obvious is that we magical folk live under the same sky as our non-magical friends. The second reason is that Muggles have arguably contributed more to the field of Astronomy than wizards have, especially in recent times, as their technology is far superior to magical equivalents. Whilst this can seem boring to those of us who just want to dive right into everything magical, it has its positives. First of all, it increases the amount of sources we can use for research, from books to the Internet. Furthermore, most wizards, especially Muggle-borns and half-bloods, will have some degree of contact with the non-magical world, and astronomical knowledge is something that can be applied in this part of our lives. Since taking the Astronomy course, I’ve found myself having conversations with some Squib relatives and Muggle friends about astronomy with things I’ve learned, no magical talk involved whatsoever. Of course, you should always check whether or not the information you learned is common Muggle knowledge or not, so you don’t embarrass yourself at best, or accidentally break the International Statute of Secrecy.

So, how did I get an “O” in my first year of Astronomy? Here are my tips:

• Take it slow. Due to the sheer information density of the course, I rarely was able to get through a whole lesson without a break. If you feel your brain getting too overwhelmed, mark where you left off, and take a breather; just make sure you come back to it soon enough that you don’t forget everything you just read. Slow progress is better than no progress


• Definitions, definitions, definitions. Make sure you have definitions well understood and memorised before moving on to later lessons. See a word you don’t recognise, like “perigee” or “angular size”? Learn it! These are often crucial to understanding later concepts.


• On the topic of understanding, this subject cannot be passed by mere memorisation. This is especially true for some of the mathematical aspects of this course. It will come up in your assignments, but don’t fret too much if you don’t understand it. You likely won’t fail the course if you aren’t a maths genius; I certainly am not. Doing the extra credit assignments will help you apply your knowledge in a way that simply reading a lesson or making flashcards won’t, so I recommend doing them.


• Don’t forget that all assignments are open book, meaning both from your personal notes, the lesson, and any outside sources. Use them as learning opportunities to fill in any gaps in your knowledge, and don’t rush them.


• Be aware, sometimes the professor throws details in a question to throw you off. I can’t say too much on this, as I don’t want to breaking any cheating rules, but keep an eye out for it. I will say, I saw it most in the mathematical sounding questions.


• Most of my flashcards were simple Q&A, but I used the others mentioned earlier too. I used Image Occlusion for the order of the planets, and for the hand shapes used to measure angular size (Lesson 3). I used Cloze Cards mostly in the final lesson, doing a sort of fill in the blank exercise for the life of each astronomer and their findings.

So long as you pay attention to each lesson well, and know how to use a search engine or encyclopaedia, each quiz and test should be quite straightforward. But what about the extra-credit I mentioned? I got an O on all of these (with the exception of the final one), and I really think it improved my astronomical knowledge. Other than 1.3., all of the extra credit assignments are retake-able, so don’t worry about being a total perfectionist, and just give it your best shot! Again, due to plagiarism rules, I won’t share everything, but will give some general guidelines:

• For the 1.1 Introductory Essay, you might struggle to come up with an anecdote about astronomy from your life. Don’t panic! You’ve witnessed a night sky before, admired the Moon, been told not to stare at the Sun, and almost certainly been made to learn the names of each planet. If you’re truly stuck, take this as an opportunity to research an astronomical phenomenon you’ve heard about, even if it’s just a star with an interesting name (take the famous wizarding family of the Blacks, many of whom were named after astronomical objects), or a pretty looking planet. Make sure to include more than one astronomical object or event, to display a variety of the topics that can be covered in Astronomy.


• The 1.2 Failed Mars Missions Essay is pretty straightforward with a bit of outside research. Just be extra careful not to copy and paste, with a few changed words; that still counts as plagiarism. Also, for a little challenge, see if you can spot any inconsistencies with the given article, and other sources. I remember when I got my mark back, I got a notification that only read “1.2.: Failed …” on my phone, and nearly had a heart attack, thinking I’d failed the essay. It turns out I’d gotten 100%!


• 1.3.: Buying a Telescope is a nice trip down memory lane, as you recall the trip to Diagon Alley (or wherever you got your telescope). Don’t be afraid to get descriptive and detailed, but at the same time, don’t be like me and get so carried away that you forget to mention some of the key details of the telescope! I forgot one key detail, landing me with an 85%, still a good grade. Read the rubrics carefully, and double-check your essay at the end to make sure everything is included.


• The essay 1.6.: Observing Planets had me pulling my hair out, in all honesty, but the 100% was so worth it. I also got amazingly detailed feedback on it, constructively detailing how to correct my mistakes. Big props to whoever marked my essay. I had to use sources that weren’t the one given in the essay prompt, as I found that website too simplistic and difficult to understand for my liking. All I can say is pick a good night, especially for seeing Venus, as it is quite tricky to find a time where is is both dark out and Venus is still above the horizon.


• I’ll admit, in 1.9: An Astronomer’s Interview, I got a pretty bad grade, and out of embarrassment, I don’t want to delve into it much. All I’ll say is that I rushed it, didn’t include enough detail. However, I don’t let it get me down. It’s extra-credit after all, and didn’t affect my overall course grade, and I got some house points at least. I chose not to retake it, simply because I didn’t find it an interesting enough topic to want to. Not all assignments turn out perfectly, and that’s okay!

Don’t let Astronomy scare you. The most advanced maths you’ll do amounts mostly to arithmetic, and if you have a solid method for learning and memorising, it should all eventually make sense. Consider it a firm grounding for the more magical astronomy you’ll do later, and remember that it is an important part of Divination, Potions and more, should you want to go further in those subjects.