USAAAO

We would like to thank all of the students who took part in the first round exam last Saturday. We are also especially grateful to teachers and all of the USAAAO volunteers for their hard work in putting together and proctoring the exam.

Exams and solutions can be found here. The cutoff to qualify for the National Astronomy Competition was 13. Scores for the first round exam are posted on Gradescope, with a representative histogram of scores shown below.

Thank you for supporting us in our efforts to expand access to astronomy and astrophysics!

The registration forms can be found on this page. There is a fee of $30 to register, but we have a financial aid application for those who need it.

Registration will close on January 31st, 2024 at 11:45 PM EST.

The first round exam will take place on February 10th, and there will be two time slots available to accommodate students in different time zones. The competition will be fully online, and students will be proctored by USAAAO volunteers through video calls.

Registration for the first round of USAAAO is open!

The registration forms can be found on this page. There is a fee of $30 to register, but we have a financial aid application for those who need it.

Registration will close on January 31st, 2024 at 11:45 PM EST.

The first round exam will take place on February 10th, and there will be two time slots available to accommodate students in different time zones. The competition will be online, and students will be proctored by USAAAO volunteers through video calls.

You can read more about the tests on our selection process page, and you can find study materials on our resource page. If you have any questions, email us at info@usaaao.org! For more frequent updates about USAAAO, visit our Instagram page.

We are excited to announce the following dates for USAAAO 2024:

Registration: Jan 1 – Jan 31
First Round: Feb 10th (12 pm and 9 pm EST)
NAC: Apr 13th (12 pm and 9 pm EST)
Online US IOAA team training and introductory camp: May 13 – Aug 1 (tentative)
IOAA: Aug 17 – Aug 27 (Brazil)

Students are encouraged to visit our Resources page in order to prepare for the competition. Please note that the NAC is an invitational exam offered to the top scorers on the open First Round exam. Furthermore, note that you must be a US citizen/permanent resident to compete for the US at the IOAA.

Around three hundred students from fifty countries competed in the 16^th International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad in Poland between August 10th and August 20th. The American team achieved an amazing result with five medals (2 gold and 3 silver medals).

Evan Kim – gold medal
David Lee – gold medal
David Zhang – silver medal
Austin Chen – silver medal
Adhitya Chandra – silver medal

Team Leaders: Lucas Pinheiro (Notre Dame) and Abhay Bestrapalli (MIT)

Training was conducted by volunteer mentors through video calls with the team members.

The USA team was selected by volunteer members of the USAAAO (USA Astronomy and Astrophysics Organization) based on candidates’ results in a selection exam. The next IOAA will take place in Brazil in August 2024.

The USAAAO team is extremely grateful to the “The Masson Family Fund” for their generosity. Because of the support of the Mason Family, USAAAO could cover the team’s travel, accommodation and food expenses. We’re also thankful to law firm Prince Lobel for legal representation.

For more IOAA moments, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

The US team is now in Poland for the 2023 IOAA competition, which lasts from 8/10 to 8/20. We wish them all the best! This year’s team includes:

• Austin Chen
• David Lee
• David Zhang
• Evan Kim
• Adhitya Chandra

More information about the team can be found here.

Please join us on Friday, 7/14 at 6 PM PST/9 PM EST for a webinar hosted by USAAAO coaches on fundamental concepts integral to astronomy/astrophysics and the USAAAO competition! All are invited to attend. The webinar will cover concepts and include problem solving (it will not be recorded).

The meeting link can be found here (passcode: 784375). We hope to see you there!

Congratulations to all participants in the 2023 NAC! Below is the list of gold, silver, and bronze medalists, awarded to the top 10%, 15%, and 20% of participants, respectively. The exam and solution will be released shortly under Resources.

Congratulations to all students who took the NAC exam yesterday! We hope you enjoyed the problems. Problems, solutions, and scores will be released within the next few weeks.

We would like to thank all of the students who took part in the first round exam on Saturday. We are also especially grateful to teachers and all of the USAAAO volunteers for their hard work in putting together and proctoring the exam.

Exams and solutions can be found here. The cutoff to qualify for the National Astronomy Competition was 13. Scores for the first round exam are posted on Gradescope, with a representative histogram of scores shown below.

Thank you for supporting us in our efforts to expand access to astronomy and astrophysics!