Intro to Astrophysics and Astronomy Olympiad
Class Schedule: 12 classes from 6/11 - 8/27 on Sundays 3-4 PM EST
Description and Goals: This course prepares students for the first and second rounds of the USAAAO, a rapidly growing competition that is gaining popularity each year, assuming no prior experience with astronomy. Students should have some prior experience with basic mechanics and gravitation. The course covers the physics of light, gravity, and astronomical systems along with different techniques in observational astronomy; throughout the course, students have structured problem-solving experience that resembles the USAAAO format.
Prereqs: Basic background in physics, preferably covering some gravitation. It is not required to have done a prior course in astronomy.
Course Syllabus: For an outline of content covered during the course, please see our course syllabus: Astronomy Syllabus
Aarush Gupta
- MIT Class of 2026; majoring in Physics and CS, minoring in
Math
- USA IOAA Team 2021, Gold Medal
- USAPhO 2x Semifinalist, Honorable Mention
- Science Olympiad National Tournament Qualifier and 2x
Medalist
- 20+ Science Olympiad medals at invitational tournaments held
by MIT, Princeton, Yale, UPenn, Cornell, etc.
- USACO Silver
Abhay Bestrapalli
- MIT Class of 2026; majoring in Physics and Math, minoring in
Writing
- USA IOAA Team 2022 (Bronze) and 2021 (Silver)
- 2x Indian IMO Training Camp Qualifier
- 2x Indian Physics Olympiad Qualifier
- IISc KVPY All India Rank ~140s
- IIT Guwahati Technothlon All India Rank 1
Orion Foo
- MIT Class of 2026; majoring in Math + CS and Physics
- USA IOAA Team 2022 (Bronze) and 2021 (Bronze)
- 2020 Physics Unlimited Premier Competition Bronze
Medalist
- 2022 Regeneron STS Semifinalist
- 2022 ISEF Finalist Grand Award 3rd Place (Physics and
Astronomy)
- USACO Gold
- American Computer Science League 3x Finalist