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BDOAA Sample Question 2021

The document provides 4 sample problems related to astronomy and astrophysics for a Bangladeshi Olympiad exam. Problem 1 asks questions about meteor impacts on the Moon's surface. Problem 2 involves analyzing a graph of exoplanet mass and radius data. Problem 3 presents a problem about observing a minor planet from Earth over a 2 year period. Problem 4 asks about identifying coordinates on Mars and determining a latitude based on observations of the constellation Cygnus.

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Anindita Mondal
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59 views6 pages

BDOAA Sample Question 2021

The document provides 4 sample problems related to astronomy and astrophysics for a Bangladeshi Olympiad exam. Problem 1 asks questions about meteor impacts on the Moon's surface. Problem 2 involves analyzing a graph of exoplanet mass and radius data. Problem 3 presents a problem about observing a minor planet from Earth over a 2 year period. Problem 4 asks about identifying coordinates on Mars and determining a latitude based on observations of the constellation Cygnus.

Uploaded by

Anindita Mondal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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4th Bangladesh Olympiad on Astronomy and

Astrophysics
Sample Problems 2021

Note: These question are above the usual standard for first round exam of BDOAA,
so don’t get frustrated. This questions are set to give you an idea on what to expect.

1 Meteor Struck
It is said that it is rare to be hit by a meteorite on the Earth. Let us try to investigate
how rare it is on the Moon. The radius of moon, R$ = 1, 737.1 km.

a. Assuming that it is a perfect sphere, calculate its surface area. About 2700 kg of cosmic
material falls onto the Moon daily. Most of it consists of microscopic particles and dust.
Assume that all of them had the size of air rifle bullets with mass 0.500 g and that they
cover the surface of the Moon homogeneously.

b. Calculate the surface area on which (on average) exactly one bullet galls per day. Round
the result to 3 significant digits.

c. The Apollo 11 mission explored about 750 m2 of the Moon’s surface. How many days
on average should we wait until a meteorite of the size of this bullet falls onto this area?.

d. What are the odds that such a body will hit an astronaut during a day on the Moon
outside the landing Module.

Solution Prerequisite Knowledge

• Celestial Mechanics (Gravitation),

• Significant Digits and Rounding estimates,

• Geometry of Objects,

• Mass Flux.

1
2 Exoplanetary Scientist
Fahim worked on exoplanets during 2020 where he was curious about the evolution of the
exoplanetary atmosphere. From his research he found this graph—

Empirical mass-radius relation for exoplanets. The dotted lines show two and half times
the predicted value, all fall within this maximum error boundary. The data is from
confirmed exoplanets with mass and radius. EU = Earth units.

a. From the graph predict 3 separate equations for mass radius relation of these data
points.

b. If the radius of the Earth is 6,371 km calculate the mass of the Earth, and the kinetic
energy and pressure involved when the Earth gets hit by a meteorite of mass 0.001 EU,
density 3400 kg/m3 .

2
Solution Prerequisite Knowledge

• Linearization of Graphs,

• Different types of Graph– log-log,

• Work, Energy, and Power

• Exoplanet Structure Basic Idea.

3
3 Celestial Mechanics
A minor planet revolves around the Sun. This minor planet is observed in the same position
every two years, under constant conditions. Throughout these two years, the maximum
and minimum difference in magnitude observed from Earth is 8. Consider the minor planet
to be smooth, spherical, with constant surface albedo and that it can be observed during
the day as well. You may take Earth’s orbit to be circular.

a. How many revolutions per 2 years does the minor planet make if its orbit never comes
inside Earth’s orbit?

b. Explain why the minor planet cannot have an orbital period of 1 year if the minor
planet’s orbit is elliptical or if the minor planet’s orbit is circular.

c. Using Kepler’s 3rd law, deduce the minor planet’s semi-major axis, a.

d. Sketch a diagram showing the relative positions of the Sun, Earth and the minor planet
when the minor planet is at maximum and minimum magnitude. Label these points (1)
and (2) respectively.

e. Find the minor planet’s minimum eccentricity e. The observed magnitude m is given
by  2 2
d r
m = H + 2.5 log , 0 ≤ χ ≤ 1.
p(χ)
where d is Sun-object distance, r is Earth-object distance, p(χ) is the phase integral
which represents how much light is reflected that depends on the phase angle. H is
the apparent magnitude of a an object when viewed at exactly 1 AU with a full phase
integral. Note: If you are unable to derive the semi-major axis in part c., you may use
the value 2.0 AU for this part.

Solution Prerequisite Knowledge

• Flux, Magnitude, and Albedo for Blackbody,

• Orbits (Elliptical, parabolic, and circular),

• Kepler’s Laws.

4
4 Astronomy on Mars
Elon Musk has sent Neha on mars to navigate Martian sky. Neha noticed that the
Martian north celestial pole is located in Cygnus and has coordinates– Declination,
δM = +52◦ 53.00 and Right Ascension, αM = 21h 10m 42s .

a. Mark the location of these coordinates on the star map provided. Consider this map as
similar to Declination Latitude and R.A. Longitude.

Image taken from:https://www.iau.org/public/images/detail/cyg/

b. The constellation Cygnus can be viewed on the North-western side of our Rajshahi
Sky. Consider that Cygnus never sets below the horizon for a certain location on Mars’
surface and it is also viewed from the North. Find the latitude, φM of that location on
Mars surface

5
Solution Prerequisite Knowledge

• Constellations and Stars,

• Astronomical Spherical Coordinate System,

• Geometry of Celestial Sphere.

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