IOAA

Newton’s Laws of Gravitation, Kepler’s Laws for circular and non-circular orbits, Roche limit, barycentre, 2-body problem, Lagrange points

Electromagnetic spectrum, Radiation Laws, Blackbody radiation

Thermodynamic equilibrium, Ideal gas, Energy transfer

Absorption, Emission, Scattering, Spectra of Celestial objects, Doppler effect, Line formation, Continuum spectra, Splitting and Broadening of spectral lines, polarisation

Basic concepts including structure of atom, Mass defect and binding energy Radioactivity, Neutrinos (Q)

Linearisation of equations and expressions, Iterative solving of functions, estimating area under a curve by graphical method and/or by integration and/or by numerical approximations, Taylor series approximations of common functions

Derivatives of elementary functions, their sums, products, quotients, and nested functions. Integration as the inverse procedure to differentiation. Finding definite and indefinite integrals for elementary functions, and sums of functions. Geometric interpretation of derivatives and integrals. Finding constants of integration using initial conditions.

Basic properties of vector sums, dot and cross products, Geometrical interpretation of a time derivative of a vector quantity

Use of ruler, geometric compass, protractor, set-square

Mean, Median, Mode, percentiles, box plots, Standard deviation, basic probabilities, relative errors, error estimation using maximum error and/or standard error

Spherical trigonometry, Celestial coordinates and their applications, Equinox and Solstice, Circumpolar stars, Constellations and Zodiac (Note: azimuth is measured in the range 0° to 360° starting from N and increasing towards E unless stated otherwise.)

Solar time, Sidereal time, Julian date, Heliocentric Julian date, Time zone, Universal Time, Local Mean Time, Different definitions of “year”, Equation of time

Solar structure, Solar surface activities, Solar rotation, Solar radiation and Solar constant, Solar neutrinos (Q), Sun-Earth relations, Role of magnetic fields (Q), Solar wind and radiation pressure, Heliosphere (Q), Magnetosphere (Q)

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 the Solar System objects, Sidereal and Synodic periods, Retrograde motion, Outer reaches of the solar system (Q)

Satellite trajectories and transfers, Human exploration of the Solar System (Q), planetary missions (Q), Sling-shot effect of gravity, Space-based instruments (Q)

Tides, Seasons, Factors influencing climate (Q), Eclipses, Aurorae and space weather (Q), Meteor Showers

Methods of Distance determination, Radiation, Luminosity and magnitude, Color indices and temperature, Determination of radii and masses, Stellar motion, Irregular and regular stellar variabilities – broad classification & properties, Cepheids and period-luminosity relation, Physics of pulsation (Q)

Stellar equilibrium, Stellar nucleosynthesis, Energy transportation (Q), Boundary conditions, Stellar atmospheres and atmospheric spectra

Stellar formation, Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, Pre-Main Sequence, Main Sequence, Post-Main Sequence stars, supernovae, planetary nebulae, End states of stars

Different types of binary stars, Mass determination in binary star systems, Light and radial velocity curves of eclipsing binary systems, Doppler shifts in binary systems, interacting binaries, peculiar binary systems

Techniques used to detect exoplanets, Habitable zone, Classes of exoplanets (Q), Spectral signatures of possible life (Q)

Classification and Structure, Mass, age, luminosity and distance determination

Structure and composition, Rotation, Satellites of Milky Way (Q)

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

Classifications based on structure, composition and activity, Mass, luminosity and distance determination, Rotation curves

Basic concepts (spherical and disc accretion) (Q), Eddington luminosity

Expanding Universe and Hubble’s Law, Cluster 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 scale, cosmological redshift

Observations in radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, and gamma-ray wavelength bands, Earth’s atmospheric effects, Artificial light and EM pollution

Telescopes and detectors (e.g. charge-coupled devices, photometers, spectrographs), Magnification, Focal length, Focal ratio, resolving and light-gathering powers of telescopes, Geometric model of two element interferometer, Aperture synthesis, Adaptive optics, photometry, astrometry

Naked-eye observations; Usage of sky maps and catalogues (note: any stars referred to by name rather than Bayer designation or catalogue number must be on the list of IAU-approved star names; knowledge of the whole list should not be required); Application of coordinate systems in the sky, magnitude estimation, estimation of angular separation; Usage of basic astronomical instruments-telescopes and various detectors for observations but enough instructions must be provided to the contestants. Observational objects may be from real sources in the sky or imitated sources in the laboratory. Computer simulations may be used in the problems but sufficient instructions must be provided to the contestants; Observational objects may be from real sources in the sky or imitated sources in the laboratory. Computer simulations may be used in the problems but sufficient instructions must be provided to the contestants

Proper identification of error sources; Proper use of graph papers with different scales, e.g., polar and logarithmic papers. Finding “Best Fit” line approximately; Familiarity with the use of basic geometrical instruments (ruler, compass, protractor, set-square); Knowledge of the most common experimental techniques for measuring physical quantities mentioned in Part A