IOAA Syllabus

General Notes:
1.Extensivecontentsinbasicastronomicalconceptsarerequiredintheoreticalandpracticalproblems.
2.Basicconceptsinphysicsandmathematicsathighschoollevelarerequiredinsolvingtheproblems.Standardsolutionsshouldnot
involveuseofcalculusand/ortheuseofcomplexnumbersand/orsolvingdifferentialequations.
3.Astronomicalsoftwarepackagesmaybeusedinpracticalandobservationalproblems.Thecontestantswillbeinformedthelistof
softwarepackagestobeusedatleast3monthsinadvance.Thechosensoftwarepackagesshouldbepreferablyfreewaresorlowcostones
enablingallcountriestoobtainthemeasilyforpracticepurpose.ThechosensoftwaresshouldpreferablybeavailableonmultipleOSs
(Windows/Unix/GNULinux/Mac).
4.ConceptsandphenomenanotincludedintheSyllabusmaybeusedinquestionsbutsufficientinformationmustbegiveninthequestions
sothatcontestantswithoutpreviousknowledgeofthesetopicswouldnotbeatadisadvantage.
5.Sophisticatedpracticalequipmentslikelytobeunfamiliartothecandidatesshouldnotdominateaproblem.Ifsuchdevicesareusedin
thequestions,sufficientinformationmustbeprovided.Insuchcase,studentsshouldbegivenopportunitytofamiliarisethemselveswithsuch
equipments.
6.TheoriginaltextsoftheproblemshavetobesetintheSIunits,whereverapplicable.Participantswillbeexpectedtomention
appropriateunitsintheiranswersandshouldbefamiliarwiththeideaofcorrectroundingoffandexpressingthefinalresult(s)and
error(s)withcorrectnumberofsignificantdigits.

Theoretical Part
Symbol(Q)isattachedtosometopicsinthelist.Itmeansqualitativeunderstandingonly.Quantitativereasoning/proficiencyinthese
topicsisnotmandatory.
Thefollowingtheoreticalcontentsareproposedforthecontestants.

Basic Astrophysics
Contents

Remarks

CelestialMechanics

NewtonsLawsofGravitation,Keplers
Lawsforcircularandnoncircularorbits,
Rochelimit,barycentre,2body
problem,Lagrangepoints

ElectromagneticTheory&
QuantumPhysics

Electromagneticspectrum,Radiation
Laws,Blackbodyradiation

Thermodynamics

Thermodynamicequilibrium,Idealgas,
Energytransfer

SpectroscopyandAtomic
Physics

Absorption,Emission,Scattering,
SpectraofCelestialobjects,Doppler
effect,Lineformations,
Continuumspectra,Splittingand
Broadeningofspectrallines,polarisation

NuclearPhysics

Basicconceptsincludingstructureof
atom,Massdefectandbindingenergy
Radioactivity,Neutrinos(Q)

Coordinates and Times

Contents

Remarks

CelestialSphere

Sphericaltrigonometry,Celestial
coordinatesandtheirapplications,
EquinoxandSolstice,Circumpolarstars,
ConstellationsandZodiac

ConceptofTime

Solartime,Siderealtime,Juliandate,
HeliocentricJuliandate,Timezone,
UniversalTime,LocalMeanTime,
Different
definitionsofyear,Equationoftime

Solar System
Contents

Remarks

TheSun

Solarstructure,Solarsurfaceactivities,
Solarrotation,SolarradiationandSolar
constant,Solarneutrinos(Q),SunEarth
relations,Roleofmagneticfields(Q),
Solarwindandradiationpressure,
Heliosphere(Q),Magnetosphere(Q)

TheSolarSystem

EarthMoonSystem,precession,
nutation,libration,Formationand
evolutionoftheSolarSystem(Q),
Structureand
componentsoftheSolarSystem(Q),
StructureandorbitsoftheSolarSystem
objects,SiderealandSynodicperiods,
Retrogrademotion,Outer
reachesofthesolarsystem(Q)

SpaceExploration

Satellitetrajectoriesandtransfers,
HumanexplorationoftheSolarSystem
(Q),planetarymissions(Q),Slingshot
effect
ofgravity,Spacebasedinstruments(Q)

Phenomena

Tides,Seasons,Eclipses,Aurorae(Q),
MeteorShowers

Stars
Contents

Remarks

StellarProperties

MethodsofDistancedetermination,
Radiation,Luminosityandmagnitude,
Colorindicesandtemperature,
Determinationof
radiiandmasses,Stellarmotion,
Irregularandregularstellarvariabilities
broadclassification&properties,
Cepheids&
periodluminosityrelation,Physicsof
pulsation(Q)

StellarInteriorand
Atmospheres

Stellarequilibrium,Stellar
nucleosynthesis,Energytransportation
(Q),Boundaryconditions,Stellar
atmospheresandatmosphericspectra

StellarEvolution

Stellarformation,HertzsprungRussell
diagram,PreMainSequence,Main
Sequence,PostMainSequencestars,
supernovae,
planetarynebulae,Endstatesofstars

Stellar Systems
Contents

Remarks

BinaryStarSystems

Differenttypesofbinarystars,Mass
determinationinbinarystarsystems,
Lightandradialvelocitycurvesof
eclipsingbinarysystems,Dopplershifts
inbinarysystems,interactingbinaries,
peculiarbinarysystems

Exoplanets

Techniquesusedtodetectexoplanets

StarClusters

ClassificationandStructure,Mass,age,
luminosityanddistancedetermination

MilkyWayGalaxy

Structureandcomposition,Rotation,
SatellitesofMilkyWay(Q)

InterstellarMedium

Gas(Q),dust(Q),HIIregions,21cm
radiation,nebulae(Q),interstellar
absorption,dispersionmeasure,Faraday
rotation

Galaxies

Classificationsbasedonstructure,
compositionandactivity,Mass,
luminosityanddistancedetermination,
Rotationcurves

AccretionProcesses

Basicconcepts(sphericalanddisc
accretion)(Q),Eddingtonluminosity

Cosmology
Contents

Remarks

ElementaryCosmology

ExpandingUniverseandHubblesLaw,
Clusterofgalaxies,Darkmatter,Dark
energy(Q),Gravitationallensing,Cosmic
MicrowaveBackgroundRadiation,Big
Bang(Q),Alternativemodelsofthe
Universe(Q),Largescalestructure(Q),
Distancemeasurementat
cosmologicalscale,cosmologicalredshift

Instrumentation and Space Technologies

Contents

Remarks

Multiwavelength
Astronomy

Observationsinradio,microwave,
infrared,visible,ultraviolet,Xray,and
gammaraywavelengthbands,Earths
atmosphericeffects

Instrumentation

Telescopesanddetectors(e.g.charge
coupleddevices,photometers,
spectrographs),Magnification,Focal
length,Focal
ratio,resolvingandlightgathering
powersoftelescopes,Geometricmodelof
twoelementinterferometer,Aperture
synthesis,Adaptiveoptics,
photometry,astrometry

Practical Part
Thispartconsistsof2sections:observationsanddataanalysissections.ThetheoreticalpartoftheSyllabusprovidesthebasisforall
problemsinthepracticalpart.
Theobservationssectionfocusesoncontestantsexperiencein
1.nakedeyeobservations,
2.usageofskymapsandcatalogues,
3.applicationofcoordinatesystemsinthesky,magnitudeestimation,estimationofangularseparation
4.usageofbasicastronomicalinstrumentstelescopesandvariousdetectorsforobservationsbutenoughinstructionsmustbeprovidedto
thecontestants.Observationalobjectsmaybefromrealsourcesintheskyorimitatedsourcesinthelaboratory.Computersimulationsmaybe
usedintheproblemsbutsufficientinstructionsmustbeprovidedtothecontestants.
Thedataanalysissectionfocusesonthecalculationandanalysisoftheastronomicaldataprovidedintheproblems.Additionalrequirements
areasfollows:
1.Properidentificationoferrorsources,calculationoferrors,andestimationoftheirinfluenceonthefinalresults.
2.Properuseofgraphpaperswithdifferentscales,e.g.,polarandlogarithmicpapers.Transformationofthedatatogetalinearplot
andfindingBestFitlineapproximately.
3.Basicstatisticalanalysisoftheobservationaldata.
4.KnowledgeofthemostcommonexperimentaltechniquesformeasuringphysicalquantitiesmentionedinPartA.

2016IOAA2016