The day that Monroe-senpai and Sakura-senpai gave us the shocking news,
we had a discussion with Ino-senpai, who was now our new club president.
I became the vice president, while Ao became the treasurer.
President
Inose Mai
Vice President
Konohata Mira
Treasurer
Manaka Ao
Our lives at Hoshizaki High School were back to normal.
The only real difference was that, several days ago...
Newspaper Club
New Members Welcome!
Coming!
Huh? Student Council President?
Excuse me.
Who wrote this article on the koi?
Th-That was me.
Apparently, my sister was the one who named the koi in the inner garden.
The koi were named by the student council president!
Rumors of the newspaper with that article spread by word of mouth,
Sold Out
and their latest issue sold out in a flash.
Eve-senpai was shouting for joy.
We've got it pretty clean now.
Yeah.
Hello! It's Suzuya!
Oh, Suzu-chan.
Here. It's the invoice for the cultural festival.
Oh, okay.
I'm so glad you're doing well again, Suzu-chan.
As the mascot of the Suzuya Bakery,
I can't let little things like that get me down!
Unfortunately, the pancakes Suzu-chan produced for our club
Food Stall Contest
got second place in the cultural festival's food stall contest.
Losing was a shock, but I don't have time to stay beaten down.
Um, Suzu-san, this is over our budget.
From now on, I'm going on the offensive!
Suzu-chan is now burning with the desire to defeat the manga club.
Among all this, the only ones who hadn't gone back to their normal lives were...
Good work, everyone.
Oh, Monroe-senpai, Sakura-senpai.
We came by to pick up the reference books we left behind.
You haven't messed with my stuff, have you?
Sakura-senpai!
President Inose
I'm sorry for suddenly leaving you to be club president,
but you don't need to worry so much about it.
But I'm not suited to it at all.
My hands are always full just worrying about myself...
Ino-chan, when you're in a bind, you should change the way you look at things.
Like how?
When you're club president, you can use everyone else as an extension of yourself.
Is that how you saw it?
Hey.
Sensei? Do you need something?
Request to be an instructor on astronomical observation
We got a request from the neighborhood kids' group.
A request to be an instructor on astronomical observation?
Some people who saw your exhibit at the cultural festival reached out to us.
You don't have to accept if it's too last-minute, of course.
What do you think?
Ino-senpai! I want to do it!
But Sakura-chan and I have mock exams that day, so we can't be there.
That's okay! We'll do it with just the three of us! Right?!
Wait, Mira!
Wh-What?
We shouldn't try to host an event while Ino-senpai's all flustered.
That's why we should accept it.
We can take a leading role in an astronomy event, and if it goes well...
I see. That might build Ino-senpai's confidence as club president.
Right!
Wait. Suzu-chan, are you planning to come?
I'm on the offensive! I'll happily do some night marketing!
A-All right, then. We'll accept!
Our new earth sciences club is taking action!
President
Inose Mai
Vice President
Konohata Mira
Treasurer
Manaka Ao
07. The Starry Sky Is a Time Machine
Considering the height of most kids, we won't need to extend the tripod.
Will this work for the eyepiece?
South is that way, so...
around here?
I'm sorry I'm not much help.
That's not true at all!
You have the important job of taking photos for our newsletter!
Y-You're right!
I'll do my best!
Hey, are you all ready?
The kids will be here soon.
We're all set!
I'm so nervous.
N-Nice to meet you.
We're Hoshizaki High School's earth sciences club. So, uh...
Tonight we'll be using a telescope so we can all view the stars.
I see you, squid alien!
You won't get away with this!
They're not listening at all.
Then I'll be the squid alien!
Hey, everyone, we're about to talk about something important!
Bathroom...
Yikes! Hurry!
D-Does anyone else need to go?
Ow! Hiro-kun stepped on my foot!
Sorry for the wait.
Oh, Suzu-chan, Megu-chan!
Okay, everyone, pay attention!
We have star cookies!
Can you pay attention to what these ladies have to say while you eat these?
Okay, go for it.
Thank you!
We appreciate it!
Nine Earths!
Saturn
So, today we'll start by looking at
this planet through the telescope.
I know that one! Saturn!
Bingo!
Saturn is another planet that orbits around the Sun, just like Earth.
This is a picture of Earth.
It's so tiny!
That's just how much bigger Saturn is.
Saturn is roughly the size of nine Earths.
It's surrounded by large, hula-hoop-like rings made of ice and rock.
I'm good at the hula hoop!
Me, too!
Where's Saturn?
Who here wants to see Saturn?
Me!
Then why don't we take a look at it now?
Look through here.
The telescope can be moved out of place, so don't touch here, okay?
Wow, it's so tiny.
Is it really bigger than Earth?
Yes, it is.
But inside, it's actually all empty. It's said that it could even float on water.
I want to see, too!
Me, too!
Yes, yes, one at a time!
They're getting into it now.
Looks like they're having fun.
Okay, who's up next?
Well? Were you able to get a good look at Saturn?
Yes. It looked the same as it did in my field guide.
Huh?
What's next?
Oh, right. Uh...
Sensei, have some tea.
Oh, thank you.
Next we'll have a look at M31,
the galaxy within the Andromeda constellation.
Andromeda Galaxy
A galaxy is a cluster of many different stars, so you can see it clearly through a telescope.
Take a look. It's different from the last one.
Well?
It's just some fog.
There's one girl here who's proving difficult...
Let's try looking for stars you can see with your own eyes.
That star is Vega.
That star is Altair, and that star is Deneb.
The three of them form the constellation known as the Summer Triangle.
Wow, you can see summer stars in the fall, too?
I found the triangle!
No way! Where, where?!
In the fall, there's also the square of Pegasus,
but it's harder to see since its stars are darker than the Summer Triangle's.
Well, it's not like everyone's going to take an interest in it that easily.
I found the triangle!
Yeah.
Lady, I found it!
Oh, okay!
U-Um...
Are you not enjoying the stargazing, uh...
Haruka
Haruka-chan?
I didn't want to come here in the first place.
There's no one here I get along with.
But my mom told me to come.
What's so fun about looking at stars?
They're all just shining dots to me.
Yeah, they are just shining dots in the sky.
But look. See how those stars form a "W" when you look at them together?
That's the constellation known as Cassiopeia.
Oh...
Also, a spectral analysis on the light from a star can tell you
its surface temperature and the elements it's composed of.
Looking at distant stars gives us
an idea of what our universe was like in the distant past.
Sorry, I'm not good at explaining.
The universe of the distant past?
Oh, well, it takes a long time for the light of the stars to reach Earth.
So, for example, the view we see of Saturn is how it looked roughly 80 minutes ago.
The Andromeda Galaxy is even farther away,
so we see how it looked 2.3 million years ago.
Then what if you look at a star that's even further away?
Well, you might see how the universe looked at the very beginning.
They may just be glowing dots in the sky,
but connecting them makes constellations,
and looking at distant ones is like using a time machine.
Don't you think that's incredible?
There are people studying them for just that reason.
Excuse me for a moment.
I'm going to go look at that fog again!
So this is what it looked like 2.3 million years ago...
Hey, lady, look at this! There's a weird shooting star!
A weird... Oh!
That's an artificial satellite.
An artificial satellite?! Cool!
You can see it because it's reflecting the light of the sun.
You see lots of them pass by while stargazing. It's fun.
Wow!
Oh, right, tonight's the best night to see the Orionids!
You'll be likely to see shooting stars until tomorrow morning,
so try observing the sky.
Our landmark, Orion, looks...
like this!
They'll fly in all directions from here.
They all have great smiles.
Yes, they really do.
You can take your time thinking it over, okay?
You can worry and have fun along the way as you gradually
work toward being the kind of club president only you can be.
Right.
Now, it's about time for me to seriously start pursuing my dream!
Huh? Your dream?
Huh? Didn't I ever tell you?
My dream is to make Suzuya into the world's top bakery company.
I want to open cafés where you can enjoy Suzuya's delicious bread throughout the world.
That's an incredibly grand dream.
So, starting now, I'm going to do a bit more marketing.
Good evening.
Oh, I thought I recognized your face, Moe-Moe-chan.
Thank you for visiting so often.
I'm impressed, Onee.
I need to get into high school first!
Good work, girls.
Sensei told me that everyone loved the viewing party.
Sakura-senpai!
They're all blurry...
There's Orion!
They may just be glowing dots in the sky,
but connecting them makes constellations,
and looking at distant ones is like using a time machine.
Ao, got a second?
Oh, another one passed by.
Did you see it?
Yeah.
Hey, if we could travel through time, what do you think
Asteroid Hunter
we'd be like in the future?
I hope we've discovered an asteroid together by then.
Yeah.
Ao!
Let's get lunch together!
Huh? She's not here.
Manaka-san's absent today.
Huh?
Really? That's unusual.
Sensei said she wasn't feeling well.
Suzu-chan...
She was fine when I was with her last night, but now she's absent?!
G-Get your thoughts straight before you yell at me!
Earth Sciences Club
You think it's your fault she's not feeling well?
Yeah.
What do you mean?
We were watching the Orionids together on the phone all night...
But you seem like you're perfectly fine.
I was up to my neck in the kotatsu.
Looks like your laziness paid off.
Um, Mira-chan...
If you like, why don't we go visit her after school?
Visit her?
I-I'm worried about Ao-san as the club president, too,
but if you really are the reason she got sick,
it's partially my fault for not managing our extracurricular activities well.
So, well... I'd like to apologize with you.
It's our first joint task as president and vice president!
Stop, stop!
You visit the sick because you want them to feel better, right?
Do you think she'd be happy to have two of her friends bowing their heads to her?
You have a point.
I need to go help out at home, so I'll give you some advice instead.
"A hundred sweet pick-up lines that women will love"?
Just try it! Trust me!
Yes, welcome.
Come on in.
Good evening.
Pardon us. How is Ao-san doing?
She's fine. It's just a cold.
Maybe the long bath wasn't a good idea...
Sorry to make you worry.
Thank goodness. You look better than I expected.
Yeah, since I was able to rest all day.
Feel better! Suzu
Here's some pudding we got from Suzu-san's place.
Wow, thank you!
Also, ahem...
"You are my sun. I-I want you to get better soon and light up my heart again."
Suzu-chan's a liar!
I see.
In terms of being sweet, desserts are better than pick-up lines.
Ino-senpai, what's that?
A memo book I got from Suzu-san.
She asked me to take notes on anything interesting that happens during our visit.
It's an important duty!
Confiscating.
Give that back!
Still, you surprised me after how well you were doing yesterday.
I was so worried that our phone call was the cause.
No, I handle cold temperatures well.
That reminds me, your mother said something about a long bath.
Were you thinking about something?
Oh, uh...
Yeah. I was thinking about this book.
Is that the asteroid book you mentioned earlier?
Yeah. It's an old book I found online a while ago.
It's the personal experiences of people who discovered asteroids, right?
Yeah.
Is it something that rare?
Yes.
There are plenty of books that introduce the asteroids,
but hardly any books discuss the actual process of discovering one.
Ao, can I borrow this book?
Of course. I was planning to lend it to you.
Thanks!
Wow, this person discovered over 800 asteroids!
Sorry we're having all the fun when we came to check on you.
No, not at all. I'm having fun, too.
You're sure it's okay?
Huh?
Oh, yes.
My fever's down, so I should be back at school tomorrow.
I see. That's good.
Please take care of yourself.
Well, see you at school!
Yeah, thanks.
Ao's all better!
Thank goodness!
Yesterday Mira just kept crying and crying, and we couldn't do anything!
Hey, Suzu-chan!
That weird advice you gave us yesterday went terribly!
You were toying with me, weren't you?!
Well, you're just so honest and cute.
Ao-san.
I know we're not very reliable,
but we'll do our best as president and vice president.
So if you ever need anything, please tell us.
Thank you.
It was super embarrassing!
I get it already! I give, I give!
What's the fuss today?
Monroe-senpai!
Techniques for photographing stars
Taking Starry Sky Photos
Photographing celestial bodies with digital cameras
I wonder if the photos from the viewing party were blurry because of the shutter speed.
I thought I'd take them without the flash, but I guess I adjusted it too much.
I tried taking some more after resetting the settings, but...
They're still blurry.
Maybe you're not half-pressing the button?
Half-pressing?
You press the shutter button down halfway to focus.
I see! I'll give it a try right away!
There!
Yeah, more and more causes are revealing themselves...
I guess I can't just take them with my smartphone.
That's not true.
Sometimes it's better to do what's familiar
than to force yourself to try something new.
Hey, listen to this! I got the recommendation!
If it comes down to it, you can tweak it with retouch software.
I don't know what you two are talking about,
You can brighten Sakura-chan's skin and make her eyes bigger.
but I can tell you're fooling around with me.
You got the recommendation slot?!
The notice just reached my house. My mom sent me a text about it.
Congratulations, Sakura-senpai!
Congratulations!
Congratulations, Sakura-chan!
Thanks.
You should be getting yours, too, if I got mine.
Yeah, it should be there.
Huh?
We both applied for recommendation to the same university.
We're in different majors, though.
We decided to keep quiet about it until exams were over,
since we didn't want to make you all worry.
Hey!
Quit talking about useless stuff and hurry home to check for yours!
Okay.
I'll text you when I find out.
I'll see you all tomorrow!
The text from Monroe-senpai...
never came, even by the next day.
Inbox
Email Search
No new messages
I-I'm so curious.
Class 1-3
Mira? It's almost time for homeroom to start.
Huh? Ino-senpai?
Mira-chan! Ao-san!
Huh? Ao?
It looks like she's not in her classroom yet.
I'm getting even more worried.
Class 3-1
Earth Sciences Club
This is why we didn't tell you all about the exams.
We couldn't stand to watch you get this flustered over us.
But, but...
No buts!
There are still more exams,
so make sure you don't let Monroe see you looking like that!
O-Okay.
There's not much we can do about this for her, anyway.
So instead, focus on keeping a handle on yourselves.
Got it?
Yes.
That's it!
Though I did get a bit too carried away yesterday...
Ao! Let's try organizing the information we have on asteroids thus far!
S-Sure.
What I should be doing right now...
Earth Science Olympiad?
This is my first step toward becoming an independent club president!
Sometimes it's better to do what's familiar
than to force yourself to try something new.
I can't just indulge in their kindness!
Endou-sensei!
Oh, Inose. What is it?
Um, do we still have time to apply for this earth sciences competition?
We're going to keep moving forward.
Because even if some things don't go the way we hope,
we have faith that a wonderful future awaits us.
08. Winter Diamond
Next time, "Winter Diamond."