Harry Potter and the Upcoming Venus–Jupiter Conjunction: A Unique Outreach Opportunity CAPjournal, No. 4, August 2008 Harry Potter and the Upcoming Venus–Jupiter Conjunction: A Unique Outreach Opportunity Astronomy Outreach International Year of Astronomy 2009 Children Arts and Entertainment Key Words Summary As we prepare for the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009), we should be on the lookout for celestial events which we can use not only to popularise the IYA2009 and practise our outreach skills, but which also have natural connections to popular culture. The Venus–Jupiter conjunction this autumn is such an opportunity, given several direct connections to the use of astronomy in J. K. Rowling’s famous Harry Potter universe. Resources Kristine Larsen Central Connecticut State University E-mail: larsen@ccsu.edu One of the most beloved children’s book series of our day is J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter universe. Comprising seven thick tomes published between 1997 and 2007, Rowling’s works have shattered publishing records worldwide. Individual books have been included on numerous “favourite books of all times” polls taken in several countries, and the series is commonly men- tioned in the same breath as classic fantasy series such as J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. Books 1–5 have already been made into motion pictures, which have also set new box office records, with Harry Pot- ter and the Half-Blood Prince to appear on movie screens in July 2009, and two films based on the series’ final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows set for release in 2010 and 2011 1 . Although the pure literary value of her works has been debated, some have argued for her inclusion in the official “canon” of children’s classics based on the ability her works to turn millions of children (and adults) into voracious readers (Allso- brook 2003). Readers quickly find themselves completely immersed in Rowling’s secondary world, and characters, both major and minor, become personal friends. Some of these characters have names easily recognised from history and mythology (such as Ptolemy), while oth- ers are named after heavenly bodies (Heckert 2008; James 2007). From Hogwarts astrono- my teacher Aurora Sinistra to students Luna Lovegood and Draco Malfoy, to the Death Eater Bellatrix LeStrange and witch Merope Gaunt (mother of Harry’s arch-enemy, Lord Voldemort), astronomical names are com- mon in the Potterverse. Indeed, in the Black family alone we find names such as Sirius, Alphard, Cygnus, Cassiopeia, Orion, Pollux, and Regulus. As C. Renee James (2007) noted, Rowling’s works provide a “vast new avenue for astronomy outreach“. For exam- ple, the New Jersey Astronomy Center for Education developed a planetarium show entitled The Skies Over Hogwarts based on these and other astronomical references in the Potterverse 2 . In his popular-level book, The Science of Harry Potter, Roger Highfield (2002) engaged readers by comparing the antigravity properties of flying broomsticks to dark energy, and Harry and Hermione’s travels in time and location to wormholes and parallel universes. Rowling herself seems to understand the value of an astronomy education, as demon- strated in numerous passages in Book 5, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. As part of their Hogwarts curriculum, Harry, Ron and Hermione are required to write an essay on the characteristics of the Galilean moons of Jupiter, and Rowling gets the science right. As Hermione explains to Ron, “Jupi- ter’s biggest moon is Ganymede” and “it’s Io that’s got the volcanoes” (Rowling 2003). Science@NASA production editor Tony Phil- lips took advantage of this passage soon after the publication of the book by writing a feature article to interest children visiting the NASA website in learning more about these fascinating moons (Phillips 2003). One of the culminating events of the Hogwarts cur- riculum each June is the OWL exam (Ordi- nary Wizarding Level), which includes both a written astronomy exam and a practicum involving observing the night sky with a tele- scope. Readers follow along as Harry care- fully plots the positions of various celestial objects on his star map, including the planet Venus, which he locates and views through his telescope near midnight. More than one astronomically-minded reader has initially thought: “View Venus near midnight? Impos- sible!” However, as Kevin Krisciunas (2003) pointed out in a letter to Sky and Telescope, it is possible in some years for Venus to remain above the horizon that late at night in England. Page 16