13th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, Keszthely and Hévíz, Hungary,

2 – 10 August 2019
IAAA 2019 First Circular

Dear International Board Members of IOAA,

Dear Colleagues, dear Friends,

Dear Participants, welcome to the 13th IOAA. This first circular concerns the matters relevant
to Examinations and International Board Meeting.

The Ministry of Human Resources of Hungary are honored to organize the 13th International
Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) to be hosted by Hungary in Keszthely from
August 2 to 10, 2019.
We are looking forward to meeting you in Hungary in August in the 13th IOAA competition.

The dates of the 13th IOAA: August 02-10, 2019

The main sites of the 13th IOAA:
 for leaders: Heviz https://goo.gl/maps/L9AypJxkWHN2 (about 9 km from Keszthely)
 for students: Keszthely https://goo.gl/maps/bpKBy4uLmfM2 (at Balaton Lake) and

Introduction video on the website and youtube:

 http://www.ioaa2019.hu
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1_Cb9xqST0
13th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, Keszthely and Hévíz, Hungary,
2 – 10 August 2019
Registration:
Registration site will be on the http://www.ioaa2019.hu and will be available from 15th of April.
Registration period closes on 31th May.
All observers who are not a team leader have to pay for participating in the IOAA2019.
Registration fee for the observers and guest team members is 1100 EUR.
Pre-registration: there will be no separate pre-registration.
National teams: Hungary can accept about 45 countries (considering some guest teams)

Guest teams: Depending on the number of registering countries, we will expectedly have
capacity to host 3-4 guest teams. Guest teams will have the opportunity to register, but final
acception will be made after the closing of the official registration time (31th May).

Local Hospitality
Local hospitality will
 begin on August 2, 2019 including airport-venue transfer
 end on August 10, 2019 including venue-airport transfer
Local hospitality includes accommodation (8 nights) along with breakfast, lunch and dinner
during this period, and all services of excursions.
Any other expenditure (meals in other restaurants out of the hotel, mini bar, laundry, telephone,
etc.) will be billed to you by the hotel individually and will need to be settled by you at the time
of check-out.

Leaders and Observers will stay in Hévíz Hotel Helios,

 https://goo.gl/maps/JNtsUekfCV12
 https://www.hunguesthotels.hu/hu/hotel/heviz/hunguest_hotel_helios/
Students will be accommodated in Keszthely, Pethe Ferenc College
 https://goo.gl/maps/7nycaFJKhqm
 https://kollegiumok.uni-pannon.hu/kollegiumok/keszthely/pethe-ferenc-kollegium

Airport transportation
Arrival day: 2th August 2019, Liszt Ferenc Airport (BUD), Budapest; suggested landing times:
8:00-16:00
Departure day: 10th August 2019. Liszt Ferenc Airport, Budapest (BUD), suggested departure
times: 13:00-23:00
International travel should be borne by the participating delegation.
Please note, that August is a fest season in Hungary with much air traffic, please reserve flights
in time!

Transport from Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport (Airport Code: BUD) to our
designated accommodation venues will be provided from the airport on August 2. Shuttle buses
will be arranged to the arrival times.
The leaders and contestants of a delegation will be transported directly from the airport to their
respective accommodation. This means a 3 hours long bus travel.
Teams arriving before August 2 should make their own arrangements to reach Hotel Helios,
and the contestants can come to Keszthely Pethe Ferenc Kollégium on August 2.

August 10 is the departure day. Participants will be transferred from Keszthely and Hévíz to
Liszt Ferenc International Airport. Flights departuring earlier than 10th August 13:00 can not
be reached. Optionally, if one have a morning flight, or would like to stay some time in
Budapest, we will recommend a number of hotels on the website, which can be booked by own.
13th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, Keszthely and Hévíz, Hungary,
2 – 10 August 2019
After the airport, the bus will go to a public transport hub (Köbanya-Kispest), from where one
can reach Budapest city easily. We will offer volunteer guides to help in city travel, and for
sightseeing.

Opening ceremony will be held from 11:00-13:00 3th August, and closing ceremony will be
from 19:00-23:00 9th August, at Csányi Event Hall, Keszthely, 10 minutes walk from the
accommodation of students.

Weather
Opening and Closing ceremonies will be held indoors, so smooth cloth is relevant for these.
The weather will be sunny in August, expected temperature will be around, 25-35°C (day) and
15°C (night) so dress appropriately, calculating with heat and sun protection.
Nights in august may be cold (down to 8-10°C). Students should prepare with warm clothes
also.

Competitions:
The competition consists of theoretical round, data analysis, and observation round (night
observation, planetarium, and daytime observation in case of successless night observation
round). All exams will be conducted near of the student’s college.

Communication devices
Contestants carrying mobile phones, laptops, tablets, smart watches etc. will have to deposit
them at the leaders after the opening ceremony. They will be returned after the completion of
all examinations on 7th August evening, on the final party. If any contestant is found in
possession of a communication device during the restricted period, organizers may disqualify
him/her or his/her entire team from the competition.

Calculator
The contestants should bring their own Calculator, and it could be used during problem solving.
The calculators should not have graph mode, program function, formulas and constants storage.
It is the duty of team leaders to check if the calculators are appropriate.

Telescope type: the following telescope will be used during the night observation:

 SkyWatcher 150/750 Newton

reflector (f/5)
 mount: EQ3, without tracking,
adjusting by hand screws,
aluminium mount
 6x30 finder scope
 eyepieces: Barium 25mm (30x) and
Barium10 (75x)
13th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, Keszthely and Hévíz, Hungary,
2 – 10 August 2019
Power
In Hungary the power plugs and sockets are of type C and F. The standard voltage is 230 V and
the standard frequency is 50 Hz. Check out the following pictures.

 Type C: also known as the standard

"Euro" plug. This socket also works
with plug E and plug F.
 Type F: also known as "Schuko".
This socket also works with plug C
and plug E.

Internet
In the IBM hotel and rooms, there will be Wi-Fi network but no cabled network.

Poster competitions, fun and activites:

During the week of the challenges the organizers invite students for a poster exhibition:
All team has the opportunity to present their previous scientific work or results, their
achievements in a poster. We encourage all teams to prepare for this, we will give the exact size
and format soon.

The lake Balaton is the largest lake in the Central-European region and one of the region's
foremost tourist destinations, which makes bathing and swimming popular in the lake.
Most of the beaches consist of either grass, rocks, or the silty sand that also makes up most of
the bottom of the lake, all beaches have step access to the water.
Other tourist attractions include sailing, fishing, and other water sports, as well as visiting the
countryside and hills, wineries on the north coast, and nightlife on the south shore.

There will be time for the students to go to beach and swim during the IOAA2019 so calculate
with this and your clothes for beach.
The Tihany Peninsula is a historical district. Badacsony is a volcanic mountain and wine-
growing region as well as a lakeside resort. We also plan trips for all participants, so
comfortable clothes also recommended.
13th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, Keszthely and Hévíz, Hungary,
2 – 10 August 2019

Information and Contacts

The final form of the website will be ready at 15th April. From then Circulars and all relevant
information will be put up there, and available at http://www.ioaa2019.hu
Other important organization notices will be released in the 2nd circular soon.

For scientific questions, please ask Tibor Hegedus: hege@electra.bajaobs.hu

For organizational, visa arrangement and other questions we will reply from the opening of the
final website, 15th April.

So, on behalf of all the organizing consortium of 13th IOAA, we wish a successful preparation
phase to you all and looking forward to meeting you at Hungary!

Keep in touch, best friendly wishes:

Dr. Tibor Hegedus, organizer

Baja Observatory of University of Szeged

Dr Kiss Áron Keve

MCSNKft, IOAA2019 organizer