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 as well as past IOAA exams. A paperback copy of the first eight IOAA exams can be found on Amazon.
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
USAAAO 