Syllabus of

International Olympiad on Astronomy

and Astrophysics (IOAA)
General Notes
1. Extensive contents in basic astronomical concepts are required in
theoretical and practical problems.
2. Basic concepts in physics and mathematics at high school level are
required in solving the problems. Standard solutions should not involve
use of calculus and/or the use of complex numbers and/or solving
differential equations.
3. stronomical soft!are pac"ages may be used in practical and
observational problems. #he contestants !ill be informed the list of
soft!are pac"ages to be used at least 3 months in advance. #he chosen
soft!are pac"ages should be preferably free!ares or lo!$cost ones
enabling all countries to obtain them easily for practice purpose. #he
chosen soft!ares should preferably be available on multiple %Ss
&'indo!s / (nix / )*($+inux / ,ac-.
.. /oncepts and phenomena not included in the Syllabus may be used in
questions but sufficient information must be given in the questions so that
contestants !ithout previous "no!ledge of these topics !ould not be at a
disadvantage.
0. Sophisticated practical equipments li"ely to be unfamiliar to the candidates
should not dominate a problem. 1f such devices are used in the questions2
sufficient information must be provided. 1n such case2 students should be
given opportunity to familiarise themselves !ith such equipments.
3. #he original texts of the problems have to be set in the S1 units2 !herever
applicable. 4articipants !ill be expected to mention appropriate units in
their ans!ers and should be familiar !ith the idea of correct rounding off
and expressing the final result&s- and error&s- !ith correct number of
significant digits.
A. Theoretical Part
Symbol &5- is attached to some topics in the list. 1t means 6qualitative understanding
only7. 5uantitative reasoning / proficiency in these topics is not mandatory.
#he follo!ing theoretical contents are proposed for the contestants.
1. asic Astrophysics
!ontents "emar#s
!elestial $echanics *e!ton8s +a!s of )ravitation2 9epler8s
+a!s for circular and non$circular orbits2
:oche limit2 barycentre2 2$body problem2
+agrange points
%lectroma&netic Theory ' (uantum
Physics
Electromagnetic spectrum2 :adiation
+a!s2 Blac"body radiation
Thermodynamics #hermodynamic equilibrium2 1deal gas2
Energy transfer
Spectroscopy and Atomic Physics bsorption2 Emission2 Scattering2 Spectra
of /elestial ob;ects2 <oppler effect2 +ine
formations2 /ontinuum spectra2 Splitting
and Broadening of spectral lines2
polarisation
Nuclear Physics Basic concepts including structure of
atom2 ,ass defect and binding energy
:adioactivity2 *eutrinos &5-
). !oordinates and Times
!ontents "emar#s
!elestial Sphere Spherical trigonometry2 /elestial
coordinates and their applications2
Equinox and Solstice2 /ircumpolar stars2
/onstellations and =odiac
!oncept of Time Solar time2 Sidereal time2 >ulian date2
?eliocentric >ulian date2 #ime @one2
(niversal #ime2 +ocal ,ean #ime2
<ifferent definitions of 6year72 Equation of
time
*. Solar System
!ontents "emar#s
The Sun Solar structure2 Solar surface activities2
Solar rotation2 Solar radiation and Solar
constant2 Solar neutrinos &5-2 Sun$Earth
relations2 :ole of magnetic fields &5-2
Solar !ind and radiation pressure2
?eliosphere &5-2 ,agnetosphere &5-
The Solar System Earth$,oon System2 precession2 nutation2
libration2 Aormation and evolution of the
Solar System &5-2 Structure and
components of the Solar System &5-2
Structure and orbits of the Solar System
ob;ects2 Sidereal and Synodic periods2
:etrograde motion2 %uter reaches of the
solar system &5-
Space %+ploration Satellite tra;ectories and transfers2 ?uman
exploration of the Solar System &5-2
planetary missions &5-2 Sling$shot effect
of gravity2 Space$based instruments &5-
Phenomena #ides2 Seasons2 Eclipses2 urorae &5-2
,eteor Sho!ers
,. Stars
!ontents "emar#s
Stellar Properties ,ethods of <istance determination2
:adiation2 +uminosity and magnitude2
/olor indices and temperature2
<etermination of radii and masses2 Stellar
motion2 1rregular and regular stellar
variabilities B broad classification C
properties2 /epheids C period$luminosity
relation2 4hysics of pulsation &5-
Stellar Interior and Atmospheres Stellar equilibrium2 Stellar
nucleosynthesis2 Energy transportation
&5-2 Boundary conditions2 Stellar
atmospheres and atmospheric spectra
Stellar %-olution Stellar formation2 ?ert@sprung$:ussell
diagram2 4re$,ain Sequence2 ,ain
Sequence2 4ost$,ain Sequence stars2
supernovae2 planetary nebulae2 End
states of stars
.. Stellar Systems
!ontents "emar#s
inary Star Systems <ifferent types of binary stars2 ,ass
determination in binary star systems2
+ight and radial velocity curves of
eclipsing binary systems2 <oppler shifts in
binary systems2 interacting binaries2
peculiar binary systems
%+oplanets #echniques used to detect exoplanets
Star !lusters /lassification and Structure2 ,ass2 age2
luminosity and distance determination
$il#y /ay Gala+y Structure and composition2 :otation2
Satellites of ,il"y 'ay &5-
Interstellar $edium )as &5-2 dust &5-2 ?11 regions2 21cm
radiation2 nebulae &5-2 interstellar
absorption2 dispersion measure2 Aaraday
rotation
Gala+ies /lassifications based on structure2
composition and activity2 ,ass2 luminosity
and distance determination2 :otation
curves
Accretion Processes Basic concepts &spherical and disc
accretion- &5-2 Eddington luminosity
0. !osmolo&y
!ontents "emar#s
%lementary !osmolo&y Expanding (niverse and ?ubble8s +a!2
/luster of galaxies2 <ar" matter2 <ar"
energy &5-2 )ravitational lensing2 /osmic
,icro!ave Bac"ground :adiation2 Big
Bang &5-2 lternative models of the
(niverse &5-2 +arge scale structure &5-2
<istance measurement at cosmological
scale2 cosmological redshift
1. Instrumentation and Space Technolo&ies
!ontents "emar#s
$ulti23a-elen&th Astronomy %bservations in radio2 micro!ave2
infrared2 visible2 ultraviolet2 D$ray2 and
gamma$ray !avelength bands2 Earth8s
atmospheric effects
Instrumentation #elescopes and detectors &e.g. charge$
coupled devices2 photometers2
spectrographs-2 ,agnification2 Aocal
length2 Aocal ratio2 resolving and light$
gathering po!ers of telescopes2
)eometric model of t!o element
interferometer2 perture synthesis2
daptive optics2 photometry2 astrometry
. Practical Part
#his part consists of 2 sectionsE observations and data analysis sections. #he
theoretical part of the Syllabus provides the basis for all problems in the practical part.
#he observations section focuses on contestant8s experience in
1. na"ed$eye observations2
2. usage of s"y maps and catalogues2
3. application of coordinate systems in the s"y2 magnitude estimation2
estimation of angular separation

.. usage of basic astronomical instrumentsBtelescopes and various
detectors for observations but enough instructions must be provided to the
contestants.
%bservational ob;ects may be from real sources in the s"y or imitated sources in the
laboratory. /omputer simulations may be used in the problems but sufficient
instructions must be provided to the contestants.
#he data analysis section focuses on the calculation and analysis of the astronomical
data provided in the problems. dditional requirements are as follo!sE
1. 4roper identification of error sources2 calculation of errors2 and estimation
of their influence on the final results.
2. 4roper use of graph papers !ith different scales2 e.g.2 polar and
logarithmic papers. #ransformation of the data to get a linear plot and
finding 6Best Ait7 line approximately.

3. Basic statistical analysis of the observational data.
.. 9no!ledge of the most common experimental techniques for measuring
physical quantities mentioned in 4art .