AstronomyDivision C

Science Olympiad

Guidelines

Description: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the basic concepts of mathematics and physics relating to stellar evolution and Type II Supernova.

A team of up to: 2 Approximate Time: 50 minutes

Guidelines

Event Parameters: Each team may bring either 2 laptops or 2 3-ring binder containing info in any form from any source

Materials must be 3-hole punched and inserted into the rings

Each team member is permitted to bring a programmable calculator

NO INTERNET ACCESS!

The Competition

Using H-R Diagrams, spectra, light curves, motions, cosmological distance equations and relationships, stellar magnitudes and classification, multi-wavelength images (X-Ray, UV, optical, IR, radio), charts, graphs, animations and DS9 imaging analysis software, students will answer questions

Competition (Part A)

Stellar evolution, including spectral features and chemical composition, luminosity, blackbody radiation, color index (B-V), and H-R Diagram transitions, stellar nurseries and star formation, protostars, main sequence stars

Competition (Part A) cont.

Cepheid variables, semiregular variables, red supergiants, neutron stars, magnetars, pulsars, Wolf-Rayet stars, stellar mass black holes, x-ray binary systems and Type II Supernovas

Stellar Evolution

Lifespan of a star and radical changes

Dependent on mass Ranges from few million years to

trillions of years All stars born from collapsing clouds

of gas and dust

Star Classification

HR Diagram

Kepler’s Laws

Kepler’s First Law: Planets move around the sun in ellipses, with the Sun in one focus

Kepler’s Second Law: the line connecting a planet to the Sun sweeps equal areas in equal times

Kepler’s Third Law: The square of a planet’s sidereal period (P) around the Sun is directly proportional to the cube of the length of its orbit’s semimajor axis (a)

P2 = a3, planet closer to the Sun has a shorter year

Kepler’s Laws cont.

Use laws, rotation and circular motion to answer questions relating to orbital motions of binary and multiple star systems

Use parallax, spectroscopic parallax, and the distance modulus to calculate distances to Type I and II Cepheids

Cepheid variables

Cepheid variable stars expand and contract in a repeating cycle of size changes

Change in size is comparable with change in brightness

Competition (Part c)

Identify, know the location and answer questions relating to the content areas outlined above for following object: Cas A, IGR J17091, NGC 6888/WR 136,

PSR J0108-1431, Cygnus X-1, SXP 1062, M1, V838 Mon, Delta Cep, a Orionis, SN 2010JL, NGC 3582, LHa115-N19, Antares/Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex and IC 1396

Cassiopeia A (Cas A)

Remnant of a massive star that exploded about 300 years ago

10 light years in diameter 50 million degrees

IGR J17091

Binary system containing stellar mass black hole

Black hole pulling gas away from a companion star

NGC 6888/WR 136

Nebula

PSR J0108-1431

Solitary Pulsar located in constellation Cetus

424 Light years away

Cygnus X-1

Well known galactic X-ray source in Cygnus constellation

SXP 1062

Supernova in constellation Tucana 180,000 Light years away

Messier 1 (M1)

Crab nebula

V838 Monocerotis

Constellation Monoceros Red variable star

Delta Cep

Binary Star System 887 Light years away

Alpha Orionis

Scoring

All questions will have been assigned a predetermined number of points. The highest score wins. Selected questions having differentiated weights will be used to break ties.

Resources

Aavso.org Chandra.harvard.edu Antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov Nightsky.ie Atlasoftheuniverse.com Email Astronomy professor from IUN

at lciupik@adlerplanetarium.org