IOAA 2017 Newsletter Vol.5

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Vol.5

IOAA 2017 Newsletter

17th November 2017

EXAM DAY, A HARD DAY FOR CONTESTANTS continued on page 3

HIGHLIGHTS!!

STARS in the Southern Skies READ MORE

INTERVIEWS

INTERVIEWS

LOVING THE EXPERIENCE MORE THAN

ASTRONOMY

THE GAME READ MORE

CHANGING HUMANITY READ MORE

HOW CAN WE BENEFIT FROM ASTRONOMY? There are a variety of phenomenon including shooting stars, comets, lunar eclipse, solar eclipse, tides, seasons and even what we know as “time”. All of these phenomenons have a direct effect on our everyday lives to some extent whether great or small.

Today, advances in the field of astronomy have led to the many satellites orbiting our earth. Satellites are able to provide location data known as GPS (Global Positioning System) which can be transmitted to cellphone towers and used by smart phones or other GPS equipped products to track one’s location.

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Therefore, we can easily see how “Astronomy” research has been able to develop new technologies that are not only effective but practical as well. The study of astronomy also challenges students to develop their imagination and creative thinking skills making it no surprise that more and more schools all over the world are adding Astronomy into their basic curriculum.

Vol.5

IOAA 2017 Newsletter

17th November 2017

Student Program Details Date

Time

Programme

Venue

Friday 17 November

06.30 - 09.00 08.30 09.00 - 12.00 12:00 - 13:00 13:00 - 17:00 18:00 - 19:00

Breakfast Ready at the Hall Daytime observation exam Lunch Daytime observation exam Dinner

Saturday 18 November

06.30 - 07.30 08.00 09:00 - 12.00 12:00 - 13:00 13:00 - 15.00 15:00 15:00 - 17:00 17:30 18:00 - 22:00

Breakfast Departure to PSU Team competition PSU Lunch Team competition Departure to Duangjitt hotel Rest and cultural show preparation Departure to Marriott hotel Dinner and cultural performance Beach front, Merriott hotel Departure to Duangjitt hotel

22:00

Duangjitt Resort and Spa

Leader Program Details Date

Time

Programme

Friday 06:30 - 09:00 Breakfast 17 November 08:30 - 21.00 Excursion 17:30 - 19:00 Dinner Saturday 06:30 - 09:00 18 November 09:00 - 18:30 12:30 - 13:30 18:00 - 22:00

18:00 20:00

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Breakfast Free time Lunch Dinner & Cultural performance Submission of Leaders' marks Distribution of Markers's marks

Venue

Phang Nga Bay

By Pass Sea food restaurant

Beach front, Merriott hotel

EXAM DAY, A HARD DAY FOR CONTESTANTS

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has come to day 5 (November 16th, 2017) for the 11th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA 2017), Phuket, Thailand. Today was a hard day for students as it was full of exams all day long.

While the team leaders and scoring committees have also been working hard on grading data analysis exams taken on November 14th, 2017.

The event organizer team arranged for the students to take the theoretical exam this morning at Duangjitt Resort & Spa, Patong Phuket. Tonight is scheduled for the 2nd attempt of night observation exam at Prothem cape in Rawai Phuket.

In the morning, team leaders and scoring committees prepared exam questions for the team competition and daytime observation discussion and followed by the translation in the afternoon at Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa, Merlin Beach.

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STARS in the Southern Skies Excerpts and Edits from the book “Thai Ban Du Dao” by Niphatphon Phengkaew (published in 2000)

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hai people stargaze by observing and creating a relationship between the stars and other attributes of nature. These connections are often intertwined with the stargazer’s lifestyle such as farming, boating or forestry. Though only a few of the many stars have a name or belong to a constellation, These few stars have been used in many beneficial ways.

TELLING TIME The Ursa Major, in Northern Thailand is observed as the shape of an elephant. In Central Thailand it is observed as the shape of a dipper. However, in Southern Thailand it is observed as the shape of an alligator. The constellation is visible during the early hours of night during Thailand’s hot season (May – June).

The two stars at the head of the Libra known as α Cen and βCen can be used to tell time. Before midnight, the left star αCen is at a lower position than βCen. After midnight, the left star αCen is at a higher position than βCen. The βCen star will continue to drop in position until morning.

The Orion constellation is observed in Thailand as the shape of a turtle with 4 legs spread from the middle 3 aligned stars known as (Orion’s belt). This constellation begins to fall to the west end of the sky in Thailand’s cool season (November – December) when it is time to collect turtle eggs along the beach.

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STAR LORE There is a fisherman’s tale about a lumberman that is wellknown among the Southern Thai people. As the story goes, there was once a lumberman chopping wood when his axe head flung off from the handle. The lumberman then laid the handle aside and walked after the axe head. Till this very day, he has yet to reach the axe head.

This fisherman’s tale correlates with the following constellations.

Pleiades is the axe head.

Aldebaran is the lumberman.

Taurus is the lumber.

Orion’s Shield is the axe handle.

BOATING Since Southern Thailand is very close to the equator it is very difficult to observe the North star. Therefore, the Southern people must use other stars and constellations to determine direction.

Bitangkaya is Ursa Major : used to determine North Bitangchang is Southern Cross : used to determine South Bitangroong is Morning Star (Venus) : used to determine East Bitangmanga is Evening Star (Venus) : used to determine West Also, the stars and constellations can be observed to locate a boats distance from shore depending on the season constellations that are often used in the South include the Pleiades, Ursa Major and Southern Cross.

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LOVING THE EXPERIENCE MORE THAN

THE GAME It is very important that the IOAA to create a good examination platform that challenges the contestants who come to compete on an international level.

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t is very important that the IOAA to create a good examination platform that challenges the contestants who come to compete on an international level.

Therefore, the competition’s examinations must be internationally standardized so that the test questions are neither so hard that contestants can’t make scores or so easy that contestant’s abilities aren’t matched.

So far, this year’s competition has gone fairly well. Our management team has been working very hard to make everything run smoothly and solve any problems that come up as quickly as possible.

Dr. Aniket Sule

SECRETARY OF THE IOAA

In this year’s competition, I can say that the contestants are certainly motivated and confident in their preparation. My hopes are that this competition would have a good influence on the contestants who may be considering to turn their knowledge in astronomy into a career. Lastly, and most importantly I want to see the contestants take the time to really enjoy this experience and really make the most of it rather than get themselves caught up with the examinations.

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ASTRONOMY

CHANGING HUMANITY

Astronomy has existed since ancient times. We can see that there are many natural phenomena in the sky such as lightning, thunder, rain, comets, meteors, bright stars, glimmering stars, and many others. Human beings have been observing these phenomena for many years already.

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herefore, knowledge related to sky or astronomy has become an interesting topic for so long already. We have collected and built knowledge related to astronomy since the Greek, Roman and Arabian periods. The knowledge gained has continued to develop gradually into the astronomy research we have today. Humanity has been able to benefit from astronomy all throughout history.

Religion also uses astronomy. For example, astronomy is used to set important religious dates.

Also, we created calendars from astronomy. There are two types of calendars which are the solar calendar set according to the sun and the lunar calendar set according to the moon. The lunar calendar is more complicated as we cannot see the moon every day, therefore calculation is necessary making the lunar calendar popular among experts and scientists more than general users.

Today, astronomy research has been applied in many fields. For example, we have satellites orbiting around the earth to observe the natural resources and geography of our planets providing us with GPS.

Assoc.Prof.Niwaete Hahteewaming DEAN OF FACULTY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, FATONI UNIVERSITY ASTRONOMY LECTURER AT PRINCE OF SONGKLA UNIVERSITY PATTANI CAMPUS

Thus, the IOAA is very good as it can enhance and encourage each country to see the importance of the astronomy subject. For Thailand, we have produced a lot of human resources up to PhD related to astronomy. For the IOAA this time, Thailand have gathers more than 50 experts related to this filed to make the example questions.

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