The following Olympic problems were proposed for the participants on the theoretical part:

1. Why is it sometimes better to use a small telescope in orbit around the Earth than it is to use a large telescope on a
mountain top?
2. A thick black fly has dotted onto the object lens of a 5 cm telescope. What will an observer looking to the Moon
through the telescope see?
3. Explain why we see more meteors from midnight to dawn than from evening to midnight.
4. The 12 Zodiacal signs are equally extended on the ecliptic. In which of them does the Sun lie in for the shortest
period?
5. On 1 cm2 of Pluto's surface fall approximately 10,000 photons per second from a star of the fifth magnitude. How
many photons would fall on a detector from a star of 20m during half an hour, if BTA at the Earth is used (the
diameter of the main mirror is 6 m)?
6. The sun has a parallax of ps = 8".8, and a star with the same absolute brightness - p* = 0".022. Is it possible to
observe the star at night sky visually?
7. The moon set in St.Petersburg (60 North, 30 East) yesterday just at midnight. In what region of the Earth will
there be an opportunity to observe a total solar eclipse sometime next week?
8. A spaceship landed on an asteroid 2.2 km in diameter with an average density of 2.2 g/cm3. The asteroid is slowly
rotating. The cosmonauts decided to travel along the equator of the asteroid in a rover in 2.2 hours. Will it be
possible for them to do such a thing? If the answer is negative, why? If the answer is positive, what do they take
into account?
9. Why might some stars appear double in blue light through they could not be resolved in red light?
10. Why can radio astronomers observe during the day, whereas optical astronomers are (for the most part) limited to
nighttime observing?
11. Why is it better for some purposes to use a medium size telescope on a mountain instead of a telescope on a
spaceship at low orbit near the Earth?
12. What are the reasons why the Hubble Space Telescope is able to observe fainter objects than we can study from
the ground?
13. The moon set in St.Petersburg (60 North, 30 East) yesterday just at midnight. In what region of the Earth will
there be an opportunity to observe a total solar eclipse sometime next week?
14. Altair (a Aquila) has a parallax of p = 0".198, proper motion m = 0".658/year, radial velocity Vr = -26 km/s and visible
brightness m = 0m.89. When and what would be the minimum distance of Altair to the Sun? Also find the brightness
of Altair at that point.
15. Recently the Ten-meter Keck telescope began to operate on Mauna Kea (Hawaii), where the diameter of stellar
images may be as small as 0".3. Can you evaluate the limiting stellar magnitude for visual observation with this
telescope?
On the practical part problems were the following:
Grades 8-12
Paper with a drown circle and table of maximal elongations of Mercury and Venus had been done for participants.
1. The figure show a circle that is the orbit of Earth. By using data from the table, draw orbits of Mercury and Venus.
2. Estimate radii of the orbits (in a.u.).
Table: Greatest Elongations of Mercury and Venus.
Mercury: 1989-1990 Venus: 1983-1990

Date East West Date East West

8 Jan 89 19 15 Jun 83 45

18 Feb 89 26 4 Nov 83 47

30 Apr 89 21 21 Jan 85 47

18 Jun 89 23 12 Jun 85 46
28 Aug 89 27 26 Aug 86 46

10 Oct 89 18 15 Jan 87 47

22 Dec 89 20 2 Apr 88 46

1 Feb 90 25 22 Aug 88 46

13 Apr 90 20 8 Nov 89 47

31 May 90 25 30 Mar 90 46

11 Aug 90 27

24 Sep 90 18

5 Dec 90 21
As for observational part, its problem was non-competitional:
Grades 8-12
1. At what time did you see Venus on Saturday, November 2, 1996...
2. ... and at what angular distance from the Sun?

Theoretical exam.
Problems to solve, 8-10 Form

1. Two stars have the same absolute magnitude. One is thousand times farther away than the other. What is the
difference in apparent magnitudes? Which magnitude larger?
2. What would an observer have seen sitting on the Moon and looking at the Earth, when the total eclipse of the
Sun took place on the Solovetz Islands (3445' East, 6501' North) at
3. 5 a.m. July 22, 1990? Illustrate your answer with a drawing.
4. The duration of the day on Mars is only approximately 2.5 % longer than on Earth. The orbital period of Mars is 687
days. Find (approximately) the difference between the duration of the siderial day and the mean solar day on Mars.
5. On the day of the all-the-world holiday (fortieth anniversary of the launch of the first satellite), October 4, 1997,
Venus was not far from its Eastern elongation, its coordinates were approximately a = 15 h20m, d = -22. Using the
above data, estimate its coordinates and position relative to the Sun on the day of the launch of the first satellite,
October 4, 1957. The orbital period of Venus is 0.61521 of the tropical year.
6. 5. Let us consider that observer is sitting on a planet of Sirius. Which object is brighter one in "his sky": either our
Sun or the stars of the Big Dipper?
7. 6. Let us say that the Sun is in Zenith, if it covers the Zenith by its disc. Where is it possible to see such an event
more often - in Quito (latitude = 0) or in San-Paulo (latitude = -23.5)? Explain.

Theoretical exam.
Problems to solve, 11-12 Form

1. If a star is moving away from the Earth at very high speed, will the star have a continuous spectrum that appears
hotter or cooler than it would if the star were at rest? Explain.
2. See problem 2. For 8-10 Form.
3. In the course of star war one crazy civilization cut a star in two half (without varying substance density and its
temperature). How did this lofty deed change the stars magnitude? What is the magnitude of the resulting double
star compared to that of the original star?
4. See problem 4. for 8-10 Form.
5. See problem 5. for 8-10 Form.
6. What limits the resolving power of the 6-meter telescope BTA in SAO? Calculate it. Explain your calculations.

Observational examination.
Rules of the Examination, 9-12 Form

Every participant has to show all the constellations in the following parts of the sky (sky was not open; some parts of it
were covered by trees):
1. North-East.
2. South.
3. North.

Practical exam.
Problem to solve, 9-12 Form

Practical exam.
Problem is about Doppler-effect, to find velosities of two stars using their spectra and spectrum of our Sun, to estimate
speed of the Earth moving around the Sun.

1. Supernova. A galaxy has an apparent magnitude of 21m.04. A supernova appears in it. After the explosion the total
magnitude of the galaxy (now including the supernova) is 20m.64. What is the apparent magnitude of the
supernova?
2. The Bear-Observer. There is a hypothetical observer who lives on the North Pole, for example, Polar Bear, who has
made appearance in the texts of the International Astronomy Olympiads. How many days (day means 24 h) during a
year the Observer can see the Polaris by the naked eye (consider the weather appropriate)? Draw a picture with the
Bear-Observer.
3. Moon and Cat. There is a cat sitting in a tree on the photo shoot by a camera with a telescope. Estimate the speed
necessary for the telescope to be moved (perpendicular to the line of sight between the cat and the telescope) to
keep the cat and the tree fixed on the lunar disc. By the way, why is the cat sitting with its head down and its tail
up?
4. Parallaxes. In our part of the galaxy the mean distance between the stars is about 5 light years. Assume that a
satellite can measure parallaxes with an error of 0,01 arc second. How many stars could have their parallax
determined by this satellite?
5. Closer to stars. By climbing on the Earth from the sea level to a mountain of 1 kilometer altitude, an astronomer
becomes closer to stars. Find the change in stellar magnitude for a star with the visible magnitude 2 m, which is in
Zenith at a distance 10 pc from the Earth, for this astronomer (or, to say more correct, for his extremely precise
photometer) due to his climbing
6. Inflation of Gravity. Suppose that tomorrow the value of the gravitational constant (G) I = n our part of Galaxy
decrease with 5% (G1 = 0.95 G0). What will be the new shape of the Earth orbit? Find the parameters of the new
orbit (major semi axis, eccentricity and sidereal period) after this tragic event. Assume the actual orbit of the Earth
being circular (zero eccentricity).
7. ISS transit. The Calsky website (www.calsky.com) provides information on the transit of International Space Station
(ISS) over the Moon, as illustrated in Figure. Based on information provided below, we can prepare for
photographing this transit event. ISS information provided by calsky:
Angular diameter =34.9
Size = 73.0 m 44.5 m 27.5 m
Satellite at Azimuth = 118.4
ESE (East by South East) Altitude = 38.8
Distance 531.1 km (in Earths shadow)
Angular velocity 46.6'/s
If observation is made on the center line of the transit band by using 200 mm aperture, 2= 000 mm focal length
telescope together with a digital single lens reflection cam= era, please answer the following questions:
 a. 3.1. If the size of the digital cameras CCD is 22.5 mm by 15.0 mm, with an effective pixel of 8.2 million, can we
take the whole lunar disc within one photograph frame? And why it is so? (Explain by using numerical values.)
b. 3.2. Suppose the camera has the capability of sequential exposure speed of 5 frames per second, considering
the proper exposure time for each frame taken (see pp. 3.3. and 3.4.), what is the maximum number of
photographs that we can take of ISS transit over the Moon?
c. 3.3. Because of the fast speed the ISS moves over the Moon, we must consider its dragging effect on our
photograph. If we use the exposure time of 1/2500 s, how many pixels is the ISS likely to drag over in the
photograph?<= /span>
d. 3.4. Suppose the telescope is operating without any tracing setup, and we are using a 1/1000 s exposure time.
Would this likely cause a problem for our observation? And Why? (Explain by using numerical values.)
8. White dwarf. A = star (white dwarf) with a mass of half solar mass, and with a surface temperature twice of that of
t= he Sun, has absolute stellar magnitude 12m (Our Sun is, we should remind you,= 4m.7). Estimate the density of
the white dwarf.

1. Where is Vladivostok? You see a figure from the book of a Russian popular astronomy writer M.V.Shevchenko,
which explains the elliptic character of the Earths orbit. Redraw this figure into your answer sheet and point
approximately the position of Vladivostok on the image of the Earth, where it is winter midday in Vladivostok. Give
the reasons of your answer.
2. Meteor. The meteor is seen from the point A at the altitude 30 over the horizon; the magnitude of the meteor is
equal to 0m. The same meteor is seen at a zenith from the point B. What is the magnitude of the meteor at this
point? The atmosphere extinction can be neglected.
3. A queer orbit. XXIII century. Midnight. A recently discovered planet in a remote solar type star system (its parallax is
equal to 0.003200959") is observed. It is found out, that the circle of the visual motion of the planet in the sky has
the radius equal to exactly 0.003200959", however the star is not in the centre of this circle but on a half-radius
distance from the centre. In the first newspaper article devoted to the discovery, the daring assumption has been
stated, that high level (in the techniques and law) civilization lives on the planet, which has learned how to break
the I Kepler law. Do you have any other assumptions? Find the period of rotation of the planet around the star.
Whether the planet (territory outside artificial constructions) is suitable for humans life if the size and mass of the
planet are approximately equal to ones of the Earth?
4. Satellite. It is required to launch an artificial satellite in circular polar orbit around the Earth so that it exactly once
(neither more, nor less) a sidereal day would appear at a zenith of the point with geographical coordinates in the
latitude of 0 and longitude of 0. What are the possible periods of revolution of the satellite? Put down the answer
as XXHYYM within 1 minute accuracy.
5. 60. The problem is devoted to the 60-th Moscow astronomical Olympiad. The Moscow astronomy amateur
observes a star with declination +60 by the telescope with the magnification factor 60 and the field of view 1 (60').
Because of incorrect adjustment the clockwork of the telescope goes in (1/60) faster, than it is required. How long
is it possible to observe the star without correction of the telescope?
6. N N N. The problem is devoted to the Moscow astronomical Olympiad. Moscow astronomical olympiad carried
out annually, the first Olympiad (I MAO) took place in 1947. Let us assume, that the following problem is given at
this Olympiad annually: Massive spherical cluster has the radius N pc and consists of N millions stars similar to the
Sun. One of the stars is moving at the edge of the cluster with the speed N km/s. Whether this star will leave the
cluster?. Every year N is equal to the number of the Olympiad. In what years the star could leave the cluster? In
what years it cant leave it?