Science Olympiad

Astronomy C
MIT Invitational
January 21, 2023

Directions:

• Each team will be given 50 minutes to complete the test.

• There are three sections: §A (Multiple Choice) , §B (Free Response), and §C (JS9). Each section
may have a mix of conceptual, quantitative, and DSO-related problems.
• Tiebreakers, in order: total from §B, total from §C, and then §2 Question 2

Written by:
April Cheng, [email protected];
Terry Matilsky, [email protected];
Sahil Pontula, [email protected]
Astronomy C MIT 2023

Section A: Multiple Choice

Use the images in Image Set A to answer the following questions. Each question is worth 1
point, for a total of 50 points.

1. List out the Harvard spectral classes in order of (b) False

decreasing mass.
8. True or False: the lower the mass, the more
(a) OBAFGKM stars we observe with that mass.
(b) BFAMKGO (a) True
(c) OGKMAFB (b) False
(d) MKGFABO 9. True or False: of all stars with mass 1 M⊙ , the
2. List out the M-K luminosity classes in order of largest stars tend to be the highest in temper-
decreasing surface gravity. ature.

(a) 0, I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII (a) True

(b) I, II, VI, 0, V, IV, VII, III (b) False

(c) III, 0, VI, I, IV, VII, V, II 10. True or False: more massive white dwarfs are
bigger in radius.
(d) VII, VI, V, IV, III, II, I, 0
(a) True
3. List out the M-K luminosity classes in order of
(b) False
the stellar evolution of the sun.
(a) I, II, III, IV 11. Type I supernovae are characterized by

(b) IV, V, VI, VII (a) The presence of Hydrogen in the spectrum
(b) The absence of Hydrogen in the spectrum
(c) V, IV, III, VII
(c) The presence of Helium in the spectrum
(d) VII, VI, V, I
(d) The absence of Helium in the spectrum
4. True or False: more massive main sequence
stars have higher temperature. 12. Very massive stars die when fusion is no longer
supported, causing a core-collapse supernova.
(a) True
Which of the following is NOT a core-collapse
(b) False supernova?

5. True or False: cooler main sequence stars tend (a) Type Ia supernova
to have less spectral lines. (b) Type Ib supernova
(a) True (c) Type II-P supernova
(b) False (d) Type II-L supernova

6. True or False: > 99% of stars in the universe 13. The spectrum of a core-collapse supernova di-
are main sequence stars. rectly reflects

(a) True (a) The temperature of the progenitor star

(b) False (b) The mass of the progenitor star

(c) The composition of the core of the progen-
7. True or False: the lower the mass, the more itor star
stars there are with that mass.
(d) The composition of the outer layer of the
(a) True progenitor star

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Astronomy C MIT 2023

14. There is a cutoff mass at which stars will end (d) Type II supernovae
their lives in core-collapse supernovae. This (e) All of the above
mass is closest to
19. Intermediate-mass Black Holes (IMBHs) in the
(a) 4 M⊙
Milky Way would probably be formed via
(b) 8 M⊙
(a) Hierarchical merging in a globular cluster
(c) 15 M⊙ or nuclear star cluster
(d) 20 M⊙ (b) Direct collapse of an extremely massive
(e) There is no cutoff mass; whether or not a star
star will undergo a core-collapse supernova (c) Direct collapse of a massive primordial gas
is strongly sensitive to other factors cloud
15. Which of the following is NOT a possible rem- (d) Accretion of mass onto dark matter seeds
nant of a core-collapse supernova?
20. What are standard candles?
(a) White dwarf
(a) Astrophysical objects which emit at a con-
(b) Neutron star stant, known luminosity
(c) Black hole (b) Astrophysical objects whose luminosity
(d) Nothing (no remnant) can be calibrated via measurements inde-
pendent of flux and distance
(e) Both a and d
(c) A standard unit of measuring luminosity
16. What kind of stars do we expect to see in a in astronomy, such as L⊙
typical globular cluster in the Milky Way?
(d) Extremely luminous lasers on satellites in
(a) Population I stars space to calibrate distances in the solar
(b) Population II stars system
(c) Population III stars 21. Which of the following is CANNOT be used as
(d) Both (b) and (c) a standard candle?
(e) None of the above (a) Cepheid variables

17. Arrange pulsars, millisecond pulsars (MSPs), (b) RR Lyrae variables

and magnetars in order from oldest to youngest. (c) Mira variables
(Here, pulsars refer to ordinary pulsars that are (d) Helium-flash red giant stars
not magnetars or MSPs.)
22. What do dwarf novae, symbiotic stars, and x-
(a) Pulsars, magnetars, MSPs
ray binaries have in common?
(b) Pulsars, MSPs, magnetars
(a) The system is composed of a compact ob-
(c) MSPs, pulsars, magnetars ject and a non-compact donor star
(d) Magnetars, pulsars, MSPs (b) Their outbursts are often caused by run-
away fusion reactions on the surface of the
18. Which of the following are rarely or never found
compact object
in globular clusters?
(c) They likely went through a common enve-
(a) Planetary nebulae
lope phase
(b) Luminous Blue Variables
(d) Both a and b
(c) Magnetars
(e) Both a and c

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Astronomy C MIT 2023

23. The fact that long Gamma-Ray Bursts are (c) Wien’s law can be derived from the Stefan-
isotropically distributed across the sky is sup- Boltzmann law
porting evidence for which of the following (d) The Stefan-Boltzmann law can be derived
facts? from Wien’s law
(a) Most of them are extragalactic
28. Model a star as a sphere filled of an ideal pho-
(b) They’re extremely intrinsically luminous ton gas that emits according to the Stefan-
(c) They’re similar to supernovae in their as- Boltzmann law. How does the heat capacity
trophysical origin of this gas scale with temperature?
(d) Both (a) and (b) (a) T −3
(e) both (a) and (c) (b) T −1

24. Suppose you plotted a histogram of the burst (c) T 1

durations of a catalog of Gamma Ray Bursts. (d) T 3
What would you see?
For questions 29-35, refer to the image on
(a) A unimodal, Gaussian-like distribution the cover of your exam, which is a new im-
(b) A bimodal distribution age taken by the James Webb Space Tele-
(c) A left-skewed distribution scope showing a binary star system. The
components are unresolved in the center of
(d) A right-skewed distribution
the image. The rings surrounding the central
25. Why is it unusual to see carbon in a star’s spec- system are dusty material ejected by one of
trum? the stars, periodically compressed by stellar
winds when the binary system orbits close
(a) Carbon is not produced in stars
enough. (Note: this is not a DSO on the event
(b) Only extremely massive stars produce car- description. You do not need to know anything spe-
bon, which are less common cific to the object besides what is given to answer
(c) The wavelengths that carbon absorbs at the questions.)
are not in the visible spectrum
29. There is at least one star in the system that
(d) The fusion of helium into carbon occurs produces dust and stellar winds. Which of the
deep inside stars following could this star be?
26. Which of the following types of stars would (a) Pulsar
we NOT expect to have carbon in their pho- (b) Classical Cepheid
tospheres?
(c) Mira variable
(a) Mira variables
(d) Wolf-Rayet star
(b) Carbon stars
30. What can you infer about the orbit of the bi-
(c) Wolf-Rayet stars
nary system?
(d) O-type main sequence stars
(a) It’s highly eccentric
27. Which of the following is true? (b) It has low eccentricity, or is near-circular
(a) The Stefan-Boltzmann law can be derived (c) It’s hyperbolic; the system will soon be un-
from Planck’s law bound
(b) Planck’s law can be derived from Wien’s (d) There is not enough information to infer
law any of the above

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Astronomy C MIT 2023

31. Suppose that I’ve measured the wavelength of 36. What shape does its orbit trace?
the H − α line of the system, which is broadly (a) Parabola
peaked and goes from 655.624 nm to 656.937
(b) Hyperbola
nm. Calculate the speed at which the rings are
moving outward. (Note: I made up these num- (c) Ellipse
bers; they are not actual data on the system) (d) Circle
(a) 3 km/s
37. What is the tangential component of its veloc-
(b) 30 km/s ity in km/s at periastron?
(c) 300 km/s
(a) 21 km/s
(d) 3000 km/s
(b) 42 km/s
32. Suppose that I’ve measured a parallax for the (c) 84 km/s
system of 0.58 mas. What’s the distance to this
(d) 100 km/s
system?
(a) 100 pc 38. What is the radial component of its velocity in
(b) 500 pc km/s at periastron?
(c) 1100 pc (a) 0 km/s
(d) 1700 pc (b) 12 km/s

33. The angular distance between concentric rings (c) 24 km/s

in the image is 0.30". What is the physical dis- (d) 48 km/s
tance between rings?
The remaining multiple-choice questions will
(a) 7.6 · 1010 km
be on Deep Sky Objects.
(b) 9.8 · 1010 km
(c) 3.2 · 1011 km 39. Identify the DSO in Image A.

(d) 6.5 · 1011 km (a) AG Carinae

(b) R Hydrae
34. What’s the orbital period of the system?
(c) R Aquarii
(a) 4 years
(b) 8 years (d) RS Puppis

(c) 13 years (e) W Virginis

(d) 30 years 40. What kind of object is this DSO?
35. The total mass of the system is 30 M⊙ . What’s (a) Planetary nebula
the semi-major axis of the system? (b) H II region
(a) 1 AU (c) Luminous Blue Variable
(b) 7 AU
(d) Dwarf nova
(c) 12 AU
(e) X-ray binary
(d) 20 AU
41. This image includes data from which of the fol-
Use the following information for the next
lowing wavelength regimes?
three questions: A particle has zero total
energy as it orbits a solar-mass star. The (a) Near-UV
distance from the star at closest approach (b) Visible light
(periastron) is dp = 1 AU.

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Astronomy C MIT 2023

(c) Near-infrared (d) E0102-72.3

(d) Both a and b (e) SN 2008D
(e) a, b, and c
47. The cross labels the location of the
42. The surrounding ring of material was ejected (a) supernova remnant
around 10,000 years ago. Using the scale on
(b) compact remnant
the image, estimate the velocity at which the
(c) central Wolf-Rayet star
ring of material is travelling outwards.
(d) None of the above
(a) 1 km/s
(b) 10 km/s 48. Would you expect the optical ring (pink) to be
(c) 100 km/s concentric with the x-ray ring (right)?

(d) 1,000 km/s (a) No, because they were emitted by different
objects in the same system
43. Suppose the scale on the image was 6 light-years
(b) No, because one of the rings is a back-
to 31", rather than 3 light-years to 31". Calcu-
ground object
late the distance this DSO would have to be at
for this scale to be accurate. (c) No, because they were emitted by different
times
(a) 17 kly
(d) Yes, because they should be emitted by the
(b) 25 kly
same object during the supernova
(c) 34 kly
(d) 40 kly 49. Assuming the optical and x-ray rings were emit-
ted from the same object but at different times,
44. Identify the DSO in Image B. which ring would you expect to have been emit-
(a) AG Carinae ted first?
(b) R Hydrae (a) The X-ray ring, because it’s farther from
(c) R Aquarii the star
(d) NGC 7027 (b) The X-ray ring, because it’s at a higher
temperature
(e) HD 184738
(c) The optical ring, because it’s closer to the
45. This object is much smaller than other objects star
of the same type. What does this suggest about
(d) The optical ring, because it’s at a lower
this DSO?
temperature
(a) It is very inactive
(b) It is very old 50. As seen in the x-ray image, there is no extended
x-ray emission besides the hot ring of material.
(c) It is very young
This is suggests that
(d) It suggests an unknown physical process at
(a) The central compact object has little to no
play
magnetic field
46. Identify the DSO in Image C. The left and mid- (b) The central compact object has a strong
dle images involve optical wavelengths, while magnetic field
the right image was taken in x-rays.
(c) The central compact object has an accre-
(a) NGC7027 tion disk
(b) HD 184738 (d) The central compact object does not have
(c) 47 Tucanae an accretion disk

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Astronomy C MIT 2023

Section B: Free Response

Points are shown for each question or sub-question, for a total of 50 points. If showing work,
please box your final answer.
1. [21 pts] For the following question, refer to images D, E, and F on the image sheet.
(a) [1 pt] What is the name of the event shown in Image D?
(b) [1 pt] What kind of signal was detected?
(c) [2 pts] Briefly describe the astrophysical origins of this event.
(d) [3 pts] Images E and F show posterior distributions of the component masses. One of them describes
the event in Image A, while another describes a similar (but separate) event. Here, m1 is the mass
of the primary (more massive) component object. Briefly describe qualitatively how we can come
up with this kind of figure with the data in Image D.
(e) [3 pts] Using your answer from part (c), which figure (E or F) describes the event in Image D?
Explain your answer.
(f) [2 pts] The chirp mass of the event was measured to be 1.118+0.004
−0.002 M⊙ . What is chirp mass, and
why can we measure it so much more precisely than the component masses?
(g) [3 pts] As time passes and the event progresses, the frequency of the signal (increases / decreases)
until it suddenly dies out altogether. Why should we expect this?
(h) [1 pt] There seems to be no signal detected on the bottom panel. Why is this?
(i) [2 pts] This is not a spatial image of the sky. Despite this, how could you use the information from
Image D to infer some information on where the event happened in the sky?
(j) [2 pts] Describe why this event was especially significant in the context of multimessenger astron-
omy.
(k) [1 pt] What does this event say about our model on gamma ray bursts?

2. [29 pts] You might have heard that electron degeneracy pressure gives a force that can resist gravitational
collapse. In this problem, we’ll examine how that works.
(a) [2 pts] List two stages of stellar evolution in which electron degeneracy pressure is a dominant
force counteracting gravity in some part of a solar-mass star (“solar mass” here refers to the main
sequence mass).
(b) [1 pt] List the quantum mechanical principle/theory responsible for electron degeneracy.
(c) [3 pts] Electrons have wave-particle duality, meaning in some cases they can be thought of as be-
having like particles, while in others they behave more as waves. The smaller (i.e. more “quantum”)
you get, the more the wave nature matters, so that’s what we’ll consider here. Let’s first consider
one dimension, so our “wavefunction” looks like ψ(x, t) ∼ cos(kx − ωt + ϕ) where k = 2π/λ is the
wavevector (λ being the wavelength) and ω is the angular frequency of the wave (ϕ is just some
arbitrary phase that we don’t need to worry about for now). Suppose we consider electronic waves
in 1D, confined to the line stretching from x = 0 to x = L. We assume periodic boundary conditions
so that ψ(x, t) = ψ(x + L, t). This “quantizes” the wave, meaning that its wavelength can’t just
take any value - it is now discretized. Find the spacing ∆k between consecutive harmonics allowed
by the boundary conditions in terms of L.
(d) [3 pts] Use the de Broglie relationship between the wavelength and momentum of a particle, p =
h/λ, to derive an equation for the energy of a mode E in terms of the wavevector k. You can use
the reduced Planck constant ℏ = h/(2π) and the electron mass m.

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Astronomy C MIT 2023

(e) [5 pts] Electrons fill up states up to an energy level known as the Fermi energy EF . Assuming the
electrons fill up all modes up to EF , use your results to compute the total energy of the system.
You can assume each mode can be occupied by at most two electrons due to spin degeneracy and
that the wavevector kF corresponding to the Fermi energy satisfies kF ≫ ∆k. Express your answer
using kF rather than EF .
(f) [3 pts] Great! We’re almost there. Let’s make it realistic by finding the total energy for three
dimensions. To make our lives easier, we’ll change the procedure slightly: find the total number of
modes occupied up to the Fermi energy and compute the total energy by multiplying by EF . This
won’t give us the right prefactor as we worked out for the 1D case but at least gives an upper bound
on the total energy. Again, don’t forget spin degeneracy. As a hint, you’ll want to consider a big
box of dimensions L × L × L with periodic boundary conditions in all three directions. What shape
should the isoenergy surface E(k) = EF subtend in k space? Again, express your answer using kF
rather than EF .
(g) [2 pts] Write down a meaningful definition of pressure that you can calculate from your result and
use it to write the electron degeneracy pressure P . Remember we want pressure to be intensive!
(h) [3 pts] Congrats! We’ve just calculated the electron degeneracy pressure in our model. Find the
Fermi energy (in eV) corresponding to a “Fermi temperature” of 106 K and use this to find P in
Pa.
(i) [2 pts] How would you expect electron degeneracy pressure to compare to pressures in hydrostatic
equilibrium? From the perspective of stellar evolution, why is this the case?
(j) [3 pts] List a stage of stellar evolution where neutron degeneracy plays an important role. Is the
pressure stronger or weaker than electron degeneracy pressure? Explain why using your results
above.
(k) [2 pts] The principle in (b) is what allowed us to do this problem and gives rise to the “degeneracy
pressure.” It does not apply to bosons (electrons and neutrons are fermions). Would you expect
the boson pressure to be larger or smaller than the fermionic degeneracy pressure and why?

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Astronomy C MIT 2023

Section C: JS9
Points are shown for each question or sub-question, for a total of 10 points.

1. [10 pts] Use JS9 to analyze an observation of what has been called the most remarkable galaxy cluster
in the Universe. Go to https://chandra.harvard.edu/js9/index.html. Enter “bullet cluster” as an
object name in the Chandra archive. Hit search.
(a) [1 pt] How many observations of the cluster has the Chandra satellite made?
(b) [1 pt] What is the ObsID of the observation which will give you the greatest detail?
(c) [1 pt] Why did you select this observation?
(d) [1 pt] Load this observation into JS9 by dragging the “Title” to the JS9 window. Adjust the
brightness/contrast so you can see the image most clearly. Do an energy spectrum under “analysis”.
In one or two sentences, describe the most prominent features of the data. Leave this energy
spectrum in place.
(e) [2 pts] Now, create a circular region, and drag it to encompass most of the cluster. Do another
energy spectrum. What do you see that is different from your answer to d)?
(f) [2 pts] What is/are possible explanation(s) of this difference?
(g) [2 pts] What is the importance of the Bullet Cluster?