Resources

If you’re new to the International Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad, take a look at the syllabus to see the covered topics!

After that, we recommend checking out our past exams. 

The IOAA Problem Book (2007–present) PDF contains all problem statements and all available official solution material, organized by topic. The complete LaTeX source is available on GitHub.

 

Some other resources we recommend are:

  • An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics by Bradley Carroll and Dale Ostlie
  • Fundamental Astronomy by Karttunen et. al.
  • Schaum’s Outlines – Astronomy by Stacey Palen
  • Foundations of Astrophysics by Barbara Ryden
  • abebooks.com sells used textbooks at a low price and in great condition.
  • edX, Coursera, and other online educational platforms often have astronomy or astrophysics related courses.
  • Stellarium is one of many resources (but probably the best) for studying constellations and Deep Sky Objects.

If you’ve done all of the above, and you would like to study the subject in more depth, we recommend the following books with problems:

More general problems

  • “Astronomical Problems”  by B. A. Vorontsov-Vel’Yaminov

For Celestial Mechanics

  • Orbital Mechanics (MIT 8.01 Celestial Mechanics Notes – http://web.mit.edu/8.01t/www/materials/modules/chapter25.pdf )
  • Chapter 8 of “Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems” – Marion, Thorton” – with its problems
  • Chapter 7 of “Introduction to Classical Mechanics  with Problems and Solutions” – D. Morin

For Exoplanets

  • “Exoplanets” – edited by Sarah Seager

For Cosmology

  • “Introduction to Cosmology” by Barbara Ryden

For above IOAA level

  • “Cosmology and Astrophysics Through Problems” by Padmanabhan