USA Astronomy and Astrophysics Organization
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The United States of America Astronomy and Astrophysics Organization (USAAAO) is the organization responsible for holding the National Astronomy Olympiad and sending a team to represent the United States of America at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics. The USAAAO does not send a team to the International Astronomy Olympiad, due to its more narrow scope and its lower popularity.
History[edit]
The USAAAO was founded in 2013 by a group of high school students who were surprised to learn that the USA did not send a team to the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics. Together, they formed a team and competed at the 7th IOAA, held in Greece during 2013. Two members of the team, Bryan Brzycki and Luke Finnerty, won Honorable Mention awards. The next year, they began to create a selection test that could be used to select teams for future years.[1]
Starting from 2014, a selection test known as the National Astronomy Olympiad was offered to students. The top scorers were invited to be on the IOAA team. Although this has varied slightly in early years, normally the team consisted of the top 5 scorers. If the country hosting the IOAA was able to accommodate a guest team, the next 5 top performers would also be invited.[2]
In 2015, a preliminary round consisting of short multiple-choice questions was added. Top scorers on this round would be invited to take the National Astronomy Olympiad, which would then be used to select the team.[3]
Historically, the format of these exams has varied considerably. However, during recent years the format has become more standardized.
In 2016 and 2017, the USAAAO also hosted a summer training camp at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[4] The camp consisted of the IOAA team members, plus some other high schoolers who would be contending for the team in the following year. They stayed at MIT for one week while attending lectures by professors from MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, as well as their team leaders and some MIT undergraduates who had participated in Astronomy Olympiads in the past.
The in-person camp has since been discontinued, likely due to financial issues.[5]
Current Selection Process[edit]
Note: Since 2020, the USAAAO also started referring to National Astronomy Olympiad as the National Astronomy Competition
To qualify for the US IOAA team, one must first take the USAAAO First Round Exam, which consists of 30 multiple-choice questions to be completed in 75 minutes.[3] This exam is usually held in February.[6] Students who score above a certain cutoff will be invited to take the National Astronomy Competition. The National Astronomy Competition is a 2.5 hour long free response exam, which typically consists of short questions, medium questions, and long questions. This exam is held usually held in March.[6]
The top 5 eligible students will be invited to be members of the main team. If the host country permits a guest team, the next highest scoring 5 students will be invited to be members of the guest team.
Every year, the USAAAO also holds an online training camp for the team members, and sometimes will invite other high-scoring students to participate in the training. The training camp meets through weekly zoom meetings and is taught by volunteers, many of which were previous IOAA participants.
Content and Difficulty[edit]
The exams are meant to test content included in the IOAA syllabus. The problems are spread throughout a wide range of astrophysics topics. Some past topics have included Celestial mechanics, Black-body radiation, Spherical trigonometry, the Solar System, Stellar evolution, Star systems, Galaxies, Cosmology, and Telescopes/other instrumentation.
The problems are meant to be solvable using basic high school level physics and math. Most problems do not require calculus to be solved. However, many of the problems do require a strong understanding of the underlying concepts, problem solving skill, and creativity to solve.[7]
Resources[edit]
The USAAAO website lists some resources that could be used to prepare for the exams. Some of these include the IOAA syllabus, as well as a list of past USAAAO first round, NAC, and IOAA exams. There is also a list of suggested textbooks and other online resources. [8]
A collection of past exams from 2014 until present are posted on their website, including problems and solutions for both the first round and the NAO.[9] Materials from some of the past training camps are also posted on their website. Currently, there are handouts for two weeks of summer 2021 and 8 weeks of summer 2022.[10]
Eligibility[edit]
Everybody is eligible to take the first round exam and if invited, the National Astronomy Competition. However, only US citizens or permanent residents are eligible to qualify for the IOAA team.[3]
Additionally, in accordance with the rules of the IOAA, participants must be under the age of 20 and be enrolled in a high school not ending before January 1st of that year.[11]
Exam Procedures[edit]
Prior to 2020, the exams were held in-person and were required to have been proctored by a teacher. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the exam was moved online in 2020. Since then, the exam has been held online and has been proctored over zoom by volunteers.[3]
A fee of $30 is charged for registration. However, the USAAAO provides a form to request financial aid.
Popularity[edit]
On the USAAAO website, statistics on past participation and scores are available for some years, or can be inferred from the posted data.[12][13][14][15][16]
| Year | First Round Participation | Second Round Participation |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 222 | 47 |
| 2018 | Unknown | Unknown |
| 2019 | "Almost 200" | Unknown |
| 2020 | "A bit over 200" | 72 |
| 2021 | 244* | 95 |
| 2022 | 243* | 73 |
| 2023 | 270* | 83 |
*Obtained from pixel analysis
| Year | First Round Total | First Round Cutoff | Second Round total | Second Round Mean | IOAA cutoff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 31 | 20 | 90 | 34.06 | Unknown |
| 2018 | 30 | Unknown | 100 | Unknown | Unknown |
| 2019 | 30 | Unknown | 153 | Unknown | Unknown |
| 2020 | 28 | 11 | 175 | 31.78** | 77.55 |
| 2021 | 29 | 13 | 180 | 55.02 | 81 |
| 2022 | 30 | 13 | 200 | 78.99 | 108.75 |
| 2023 | 30 | 13 | 240 | Unknown | 112.25 |
**incomplete data was given for this years scores
Awards[edit]
From 2020 to 2022, the USAAAO released a ranking list including the scores of everybody who took the NAC.[17] However, starting in 2023, a medal list without scores was released instead. Participants were still privately told their scores.
Starting from 2023, a medal system similar to other olympiads was implemented. A gold medal was given to the top 10% of participants, a silver medal was given to the next 15% participants, and a bronze medal was given to the next 20% of participants.[18]
Staff[edit]
The USAAAO is run entirely by volunteers. The current presidents are Sahil Pontula and Vlad Rosca. The board of directors include Ioana Zelko, Dr. Natasa Dragovic, Dr. Tad Komacek, Roohi Dalal, Joy Karugu, Evan Tey, and Sandesh Kalantre. The team leaders for the 2023 IOAA were Lucas Pinheiro and Abhay Bestrapalli.[19]
Funding[edit]
The USAAAO website lists the Masson Family fund as a donor, and the Prince Lobel law firm as providing pro-bono support.[20]
The USAAAO website also states that the USAAAO is in the process of obtaining 501c3 nonprofit status. However, the Internal Revenue Service lists the USA Astronomy and Astrophysics Foundation as having obtained 501(c)(3) status starting March 31, 2021.[21]
Past Performance at IOAA[edit]
In the past, during the years from 2013 to 2023, the USA has won 22 Gold Medals, 18 Silver Medals, 15 Bronze Medals, and 13 Honorable Mention awards. In addition to this, US team members have also won one Best Theory Prize, one Best Data Analysis Prize, and one Best Poster Prize.[1]
Although a US team member has never been named as the overall winner, participant Evan Kim has come close, getting 2nd place overall for two consecutive years.
Below is a table of past participants and their results.
| Year | Name | Award |
|---|---|---|
| 16th IOAA, Poland, 2023 | ||
| Evan Kim | Gold Medal | |
| David Lee | Gold Medal | |
| Adhitya Chandra | Silver Medal | |
| David Zhang | Silver Medal | |
| Austin Chen | Silver Medal | |
| Team Leaders: Lucas Pinheiro and Abhay Bestrapalli | ||
| 15th IOAA, Georgia, 2022 | ||
| Samvit Das | Gold Medal | |
| David Zhang | Gold Medal | |
| Evan Kim | Gold Medal | |
| Justin Chen | Silver Medal | |
| Erez Israeli Miller | Silver Medal | |
| Andrew Liu | Silver Medal | |
| Austin Chen | Bronze Medal | |
| Abhay Narasima Bestrapalli | Bronze Medal | |
| Arjun Patel | Bronze Medal | |
| Orion Foo | Bronze Medal | |
| Team Leaders: Natasa Dragovic and Lucas Pinheiro | ||
| 14th IOAA, Hybrid in Boston, 2021 | ||
| Alexander Hu | Gold Medal | |
| William Huang | Gold Medal | |
| Geoffrey Wu | Gold Medal | |
| Aarush Gupta | Gold Medal | |
| Erez Israeli Miller | Silver Medal | |
| Abhay Narasima Bestrapalli | Silver Medal | |
| Harsh Deep | Silver Medal | |
| Justin Chen | Silver Medal | |
| Joshua Jones | Silver Medal | |
| Orion Foo | Bronze Medal | |
| Team Leaders: Evan Tey and Katarine Emanuela Klitzke | ||
| GeCAA, 2020 | ||
| Leo Yao | Gold Medal | |
| William Huang | Gold Medal | |
| April Cheng | Gold Medal | |
| Sean Chen | Gold Medal and Prize for Best Theory Paper | |
| Shion Murakawa | Gold Medal | |
| Adithya Balachandran | Gold Medal | |
| Jupiter Ding | Silver Medal | |
| Max Tan | Bronze Medal | |
| Jared Machtinger | Bronze Medal | |
| William Li | ||
| Team Leaders: Thaddeus Komacek and Sandesh Kalantre | ||
| 13th IOAA, Hungary, 2019 | ||
| Vincent Bian | Gold Medal and Prize for Best Data Analysis Paper | |
| Joseph McCarty | Gold Medal | |
| April Cheng | Silver Medal | |
| Leo Yao | Silver Medal | |
| Sean Chen | Bronze Medal | |
| Albert Qin | Bronze Medal | |
| Anthony Ou | Bronze Medal | |
| Daniel Chang | Bronze Medal | |
| Dean Zhou | Honorable Mention | |
| Devin Hoover | 1st Place in the Poster Competition | |
| Team Leaders: Ioana Zelko and Natasa Dragovic | ||
| 12th IOAA, China, 2018 | ||
| Joseph McCarty | Gold Medal | |
| Vincent Bian | Gold Medal | |
| April Cheng | Silver Medal | |
| Sahil Pontula | Bronze Medal | |
| Andy Zhu | Honorable Mention | |
| David Yue | ||
| Team Leaders: Ioana Zelko and Natasa Dragovic | ||
| 11th IOAA, Thailand, 2017 | ||
| Hagan Hensley | Gold Medal | |
| Jason Yang | Gold Medal | |
| Siddharth Sridhar | Honorable Mention | |
| Andy Zhu | Honorable Mention | |
| Shubhanga Ballal | Honorable Mention | |
| Team Leaders: Ana-Roxana Pop and Ioana Zelko | ||
| 10th IOAA, India, 2016 | ||
| Srijon Mukherjee | Gold Medal | |
| Hagan Hensley | Silver Medal | |
| Luke Qi | Silver Medal | |
| Robert Yang | Honorable Mention | |
| Wonjun Yoon | Honorable Mention | |
| Team Leader: Roohi Dalal | ||
| 9th IOAA, Indonesia, 2015 | ||
| Jeffrey Huang | Silver Medal | |
| Luke Qi | Bronze Medal | |
| Srijon Mukherjee | Bronze Medal | |
| Sara Anjum | Honorable Mention | |
| Hariharan Sezhiyan | ||
| Team Leader: Luke Finnerty | ||
| 8th IOAA, Romania, 2014 | ||
| Luke Finnerty | Bronze Medal | |
| David Wang | Honorable Mention | |
| Claire Burch | Honorable Mention | |
| Evan Tey | Honorable Mention | |
| Team Leaders: Tad Komacek and Roohi Dalal | ||
| 7th IOAA, Greece, 2013 | ||
| Bryan Brzycki | Honorable Mention | |
| Luke Finnerty | Honorable Mention | |
| Claire Burch | ||
| Roohi Dalal | ||
| Silas Grossberndt | ||
| Team Leader: Carlos Preising | ||
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "History". USAAAO. June 15, 2016.
- ↑ "USAAAO". USAAAO. August 19, 2023.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Selection Process". USAAAO. June 15, 2016.
- ↑ "Training students' eyes on the skies". MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. August 10, 2017.
- ↑ "Crowdfund MIT: US Astronomy Team Summer Training Camp | MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences". eapsweb.mit.edu.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Schedule for USAAAO 2023!". November 16, 2022.
- ↑ "Syllabus of International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA)" (PDF). USAAAO. June 2016.
- ↑ "Resources". USAAAO. June 15, 2016.
- ↑ "Past Exams". USAAAO. June 15, 2016.
- ↑ "Training Camp Resources". USAAAO. June 8, 2021.
- ↑ "Statutes of International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics". IOAA. 18 July 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
- ↑ "USAAAO 2017 Conclusion". USAAAO. June 10, 2017.
- ↑ "First Round Results". USAAAO. May 6, 2017.
- ↑ "First Round Complete". USAAAO. February 8, 2019.
- ↑ "First Round Updates". USAAAO. February 15, 2020.
- ↑ "First Round Complete". USAAAO. February 3, 2021.
- ↑ "Results of the NAC". USAAAO. April 27, 2020.
- ↑ "Results of the 2023 NAC". USAAAO. May 7, 2023.
- ↑ "Volunteers". USAAAO. November 20, 2018.
- ↑ "Funding". USAAAO. December 1, 2018.
- ↑ "Tax Exempt Organization Search Details". Internal Revenue Service. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
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