Science Olympiad
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
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!
Using H-R Diagrams, spectra, light curves, motions, cosmological distance equations and relationships, stellar magnitudes and classification, multi-wavelength images (XRay, UV, optical, IR, radio), charts, graphs, animations and DS9 imaging analysis software, students will answer questions
Stellar evolution, including spectral features and chemical composition, luminosity, blackbody radiation, color index (B-V), and HR Diagram transitions, stellar nurseries and star formation, protostars, main sequence stars
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
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
HR Diagram
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
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 variable stars expand and contract in a repeating cycle of size changes Change in size is comparable with change in brightness
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, LHa115N19, Antares/Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex and IC 1396
Remnant of a massive star that exploded about 300 years ago 10 light years in diameter 50 million degrees
Binary system containing stellar mass black hole Black hole pulling gas away from a companion star
Nebula
Solitary Pulsar located in constellation Cetus 424 Light years away
Well known galactic X-ray source in Cygnus constellation
Supernova in constellation Tucana 180,000 Light years away
Crab nebula
Constellation Monoceros Red variable star
Binary Star System 887 Light years away
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.
Aavso.org Chandra.harvard.edu Antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov Nightsky.ie Atlasoftheuniverse.com Email Astronomy professor from IUN at
[email protected]
