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Astronomy

Where this comes from

Project Cherenkov writes this syllabus itself, from the sources below. Each topic is labelled with the syllabuses that list it.

  • IOAAIOAA Syllabus

    International syllabus · Issued by International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics · Official language: English

    Compared with the primary document · Last compared October 24, 2026

    The IOAA page states no edition. Sections were compared one by one; a topic-by-topic comparison has not been redone.

  • OSNPanduan OSN SMA/MA/SMK/MAK/Sederajat — Lampiran 3 “Silabus OSN”, Cabang Astronomi

    National syllabus · Issued by Pusat Prestasi Nasional, Kemendikdasmen · Edition: OSN 2025 · Official language: Indonesian

    Compared with the primary document · Last compared November 10, 2026

    Names in English are unofficial glosses written by Project Cherenkov, so check the source if in doubt.

    The 2025 guide does not list astronomy topics; it says OSN astronomy follows the IOAA syllabus. The 2026 guide has not been read directly.

What is Project Cherenkov’s own: the subtopics, the translations into the other language, and the pairing of a topic with a source that does not state it itself. Section pointers such as “IPhO §2.4.3” name the place in the source where a topic comes from.

29 topics · 1 material · 2 editorials

Show topics from

Each label says which syllabuses list the topic. “Not confirmed” means we have not found the topic in that source; it does not mean the topic is excluded.

Theory

Basic Astrophysics5 topics

  1. Celestial mechanics

    IOAA and OSN

    Newton’s law of gravitation; Kepler’s laws for circular and non-circular orbits; Roche limit; barycentre; two-body problem; Lagrange points.

    Coming soon

  2. Electromagnetic theory and quantum physics

    IOAA and OSN

    Electromagnetic spectrum; radiation laws; blackbody radiation.

    Editorials:Why the Rayleigh–Jeans Law Predicts an Ultraviolet Catastrophe

    Coming soon

  3. Thermodynamics

    IOAA and OSN

    Thermodynamic equilibrium; ideal gas; energy transfer.

    Coming soon

  4. Spectroscopy and atomic physics

    IOAA and OSN

    Absorption, emission and scattering; spectra of celestial objects; Doppler effect; line formation; continuum spectra; splitting and broadening of spectral lines; polarisation.

    Coming soon

  5. Nuclear physics

    IOAA and OSN

    Basic concepts, including the structure of the atom; mass defect and binding energy; radioactivity; neutrinos (Q).

    Coming soon
Mathematical Methods and Tools5 topics

  1. Numerical methods

    IOAA and OSN

    Linearisation of equations and expressions; iterative solving of functions; estimating the area under a curve by a graphical method, by integration or by numerical approximation; Taylor-series approximations of common functions.

    Coming soon

  2. Basic calculus

    IOAA and OSN

    Derivatives of elementary functions and of their sums, products, quotients and nested functions; integration as the inverse of differentiation; definite and indefinite integrals of elementary functions and their sums; geometric interpretation of derivatives and integrals; finding constants of integration from initial conditions.

    Coming soon

  3. Vectors

    IOAA and OSN

    Basic properties of vector sums, dot products and cross products; geometric interpretation of the time derivative of a vector quantity.

    Coming soon

  4. Geometric instruments

    IOAA and OSN

    Use of a ruler, geometric compass, protractor and set-square.

    Coming soon

  5. Statistics and error analysis

    IOAA and OSN

    Mean, median, mode and percentiles; box plots; standard deviation; basic probability; relative errors; error estimation using the maximum error or the standard error.

    Coming soon
Coordinates and Times2 topics

  1. The celestial sphere

    IOAA and OSN

    Spherical trigonometry; celestial coordinates and their applications; equinox and solstice; circumpolar stars; constellations and zodiac. Azimuth is measured from 0° to 360° starting from north and increasing towards east, unless stated otherwise.

    Coming soon

  2. The concept of time

    IOAA and OSN

    Solar time; sidereal time; Julian date; heliocentric Julian date; time zones; Universal Time; local mean time; different definitions of “year”; equation of time.

    Coming soon
Solar System4 topics

  1. The Sun

    IOAA and OSN

    Solar structure; solar surface activity; solar rotation; solar radiation and the solar constant; solar neutrinos (Q); Sun–Earth relations; role of magnetic fields (Q); solar wind and radiation pressure; heliosphere (Q); magnetosphere (Q).

    Coming soon

  2. The Solar System

    IOAA and OSN

    Earth–Moon system; precession; nutation; libration; formation and evolution of the Solar System (Q); structure and components of the Solar System (Q); structure and orbits of Solar System objects; sidereal and synodic periods; retrograde motion; outer reaches of the Solar System (Q).

    Subtopics

    These subtopics are Project Cherenkov's own breakdown of the topic above. The source syllabus does not list them.

    1. Sidereal and synodic periods

      Periods measured against a distant celestial reference versus a moving one; the mean solar day; recurrence times of planetary configurations such as opposition.

      Editorials:Why a Sidereal Day Is Shorter Than a Mean Solar Day

      Read material →

  3. Space exploration

    IOAA and OSN

    Satellite trajectories and transfers; human exploration of the Solar System (Q); planetary missions (Q); gravitational sling-shot effect; space-based instruments (Q).

    Coming soon

  4. Phenomena

    IOAA and OSN

    Tides; seasons; factors influencing climate (Q); eclipses; aurorae and space weather (Q); meteor showers.

    Coming soon
Stars3 topics

  1. Stellar properties

    IOAA and OSN

    Methods of distance determination; radiation, luminosity and magnitude; colour indices and temperature; determination of radii and masses; stellar motion; irregular and regular stellar variability (broad classification and properties); Cepheids and the period–luminosity relation; physics of pulsation (Q).

    Coming soon

  2. Stellar interiors and atmospheres

    IOAA and OSN

    Stellar equilibrium; stellar nucleosynthesis; energy transport (Q); boundary conditions; stellar atmospheres and atmospheric spectra.

    Coming soon

  3. Stellar evolution

    IOAA and OSN

    Stellar formation; Hertzsprung–Russell diagram; pre-main-sequence, main-sequence and post-main-sequence stars; supernovae; planetary nebulae; end states of stars.

    Coming soon
Stellar Systems7 topics

  1. Binary star systems

    IOAA and OSN

    Different types of binary stars; mass determination in binary systems; light and radial-velocity curves of eclipsing binaries; Doppler shifts in binary systems; interacting binaries; peculiar binary systems.

    Coming soon

  2. Exoplanets

    IOAA and OSN

    Techniques used to detect exoplanets; habitable zone; classes of exoplanets (Q); spectral signatures of possible life (Q).

    Coming soon

  3. Star clusters

    IOAA and OSN

    Classification and structure; mass, age, luminosity and distance determination.

    Coming soon

  4. The Milky Way

    IOAA and OSN

    Structure and composition; rotation; satellites of the Milky Way (Q).

    Coming soon

  5. Interstellar medium

    IOAA and OSN

    Gas (Q); dust (Q); HII regions; 21 cm radiation; nebulae (Q); interstellar absorption; dispersion measure; Faraday rotation.

    Coming soon

  6. Galaxies

    IOAA and OSN

    Classification by structure, composition and activity; mass, luminosity and distance determination; rotation curves.

    Coming soon

  7. Accretion processes

    IOAA and OSN

    Basic concepts of spherical and disc accretion (Q); Eddington luminosity.

    Coming soon
Cosmology1 topic

  1. Elementary cosmology

    IOAA and OSN

    Expanding Universe and Hubble’s law; clusters of galaxies; dark matter; dark energy (Q); gravitational lensing; cosmic microwave background radiation; Big Bang (Q); alternative models of the Universe (Q); large-scale structure (Q); distance measurement at cosmological scales; cosmological redshift.

    Coming soon
Instrumentation and Space Technologies2 topics

  1. Multi-wavelength astronomy

    IOAA and OSN

    Observations in the radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-ray and gamma-ray bands; effects of the Earth’s atmosphere; artificial light and electromagnetic pollution.

    Coming soon

  2. Instrumentation

    IOAA and OSN

    Telescopes and detectors (for example CCDs, photometers and spectrographs); magnification; focal length; focal ratio; resolving and light-gathering power of telescopes; geometric model of a two-element interferometer; aperture synthesis; adaptive optics; photometry; astrometry.

    Coming soon

Practical

Practical: Observations

IOAA and OSN

Naked-eye observations; use of sky maps and catalogues (a star named rather than given by Bayer designation or catalogue number must be on the IAU-approved star-name list, and knowing the whole list is not required); application of coordinate systems on the sky; magnitude estimation; estimation of angular separation; use of basic astronomical instruments (telescopes and various detectors), with enough instructions provided. Observed objects may be real sources in the sky or imitated sources in the laboratory; computer simulations may be used.

Practical: Data analysis

IOAA and OSN

Calculation and analysis of the astronomical data given in the problems. Additional requirements: proper identification of error sources; proper use of graph paper with different scales (for example polar and logarithmic) and finding an approximate “best fit” line; familiarity with basic geometric instruments (ruler, compass, protractor, set-square); knowledge of the most common experimental techniques for measuring the physical quantities in the theory part.