2019-20

Orlando Science Science Olympiad

ASTRONOMY
Instructions: DO NOT open the packet until prompted to. The test will be a 50 minute test
and answer each question to the best of your abilities. There is no answer sheet so
PLEASE write on the test. There is partial credit for work! However if there is no work
there is NO credit. Enjoy !

Student Name(s):

School:

Team (circle one):

A B C

For scorers:
Correct: Total: 103 Blank:
 SECTION I Short Answer and DSO

1. What is a star? How is it formed?

A star is a luminious ball of gas mostly made up of hydrogen and helium held together by
its own gravity. (1 point for mentioning what a star is. 1 point for mentioning held by own
gravity.)
They are formed with clouds of dust heating up and collapsing under its own attraction
creating a protostar. (1 point for mentioning heating up and 1 point for collapsing under its
own gravity)

2. What are the three major galaxies? Which one is the Milky Way?
Spiral, Irregular Elliptical. (1 point for each)
Barred Spiral ( 1 point for mentioning barred, 1 point for mentioning spiral.)

3. Harshitha learned about Supernovae in class and she learned that it happens to big stars.
Harshitha then remembered the sun is pretty big and claims the sun will explode in a
supernova! Explain whether or not Harshitha wrong and provide evidence!
Harshitha is wrong because the sun is not big enough or is not hot enough for it to
supernovae. A star must be born with enough heat to run out of hydrogen quickly in order
to swell up to supergiant/hypergiant sizes and inorder to supernovae. Sun is an Average
mass star.
(1 point for mentioning harshitha is wrong, 1 point for mentioning the star need to be born
with enough heat ... etc) (If they mention harshitha is correct give 0 points.)

4. What is an Hertzsprung-Russel Diagram? Why do scientists use it?

The Hertzsprung–Russell diagram, abbreviated as H–R diagram, HR diagram or HRD, is
a scatter plot of stars showing the relationship between the stars' absolute magnitudes or
luminosities versus their stellar classifications or effective temperatures. Scientist use it to plot the
size/mass/temperature of the star and to group types of stars together
(1 point for mentioning relationship between magnitudes and luminsoties) (1 point to mention
scientists use it to classify mass and temperature and group different types of star)
1. Plot the location of the sun, Betelgeuse and Procyon B in the H-R diagram.

Betelgeuse

The Sun

Procyon B

( 1 point for correct location of each)

2. Which one of the deep sky objects is the furthest known type 1a supernova?

SN UDS10Wil (1 point)

3. What year was it detected?

2013 (1 point)

4. When did it explode? (Don’t give a time, give an estimate based on the size of
something)
When the Universe was 1/3 the size of its current size. (1 point)
 5. What is redshift? What is the redshift of the deep sky object you classified in
question number 6?
displacement of the spectrum of an astronomical object toward longer (red)
wavelengths, 1.914=z(redshift)
(1 point for the correct explanation of redshift as shown as above, 1 point for
the exact redshift)

6. In 2019 a major Astronomical discovery was made! What was it and which deep
sky object is?
We have our very first detailed picture of a blackhole! It is M87!
(1 point for first part, 1 point for stating m87)

7. What is the mass of the object? (Put in terms of solar masses pls)

(Any value between 3.5*10^8-6.6*10^8 solar masses) Give one point.

If answer not in solar masses give 0 points.

8. What wavelength is the immense discovery found in?

Radio (1 pt)

9. Why does one side of the picture look bigger than the other?

Due to the warping of light and space time due to the blackhole and our
view from it. (1 point for mentioning warping of light)

10. What is the first ever quasar identified called?

3C 273 (1 point)

11. What even is a quasar?

 Massive and extremely remote celestial object, emitting exceptionally large
amounts of energy, and typically having a starlike image in a telescope. It has been
suggested that quasars contain massive black holes and may represent a stage in the
evolution of some galaxies.

(1 point for mentioning massive object that emits large amounts of energy, 1 point for
mentioning blackholes in some manner)

12. Amitha was looking into Chandra’s telescope and found 3 quasars with unusual
characteristics. Why is it unusual?
They were emitting weak UV ATOMIC emission and xray fluxes. This is unusual
because the emission disk is almost donut shaped instead of disk shaped, usually
not seen in blackholes.

(1 point for mentioning weak UV atomic emission and Xray Fluxes. 1 point for
mentioning the disk shape is donut shaped instead of disk shaped)

13. What do these “thick-disk” quasars harbor?

They harbor blackholes growing at an extraordinary rapid rate.
(1 point for mentioning blackholes growing at a fast rate. 0 points for not
mentioning the rate)

14. Which DSO is known as Icarus? What is special about it?

MACS J1149.5+2223, Or Lensed Star 1, It’s a Blue supergiant and it’s the furthest
individual star detected
(1 point for correct Identification, 1 point for mentioning it being a blue supergiant,
1 point for it being the furthest individual star)

15. What will happen to the star in the future?

It will supernovae (1 point)

16. Is the star currently a blue supergiant? Why or Why not?

No, because we see the star as it was 9.344 billion years ago. Using what we know
about high mass stars, and their lifespans we can conclude right now that it should
be supernovaed into a Neutron star or a blackhole
(1 point for mentioning no. 1 point for mentioning life spans smaller, 1 point for
mentioning supernovae)

17. Why does it have a lookback time? What is lookback time? How does it work?
It has a look back time due to it being a certain distance away from us. Any object
has a look back time. Due to the time it takes for light to come to us. E.G the sun
we see is actually how the sun looked like 8 seconds ago. So the object is how
the objected appeared to be 9.344 billion years ago, long before the sun was a
thing.

(1 point for mentioning distance, 1 point for mentioning that it looks how it
did 9 billion years ago)
Section II T & F.

1. The Sun is a G7 star T F

2. Steller evolution is ALWAYS a multibillion-year long process T F
3. Milky Way is an elliptical galaxy T F
4. If you look at the sun right now, using proper eye protection, its how it looks
currently. T F
5. Betelgeuse is a Red Dwarf T F
6. Proxima Centauri is the closest star to earth T F
7. Galaxy’s can never collide T F
8. Jupiter is a failed star T F
9. GRB 150101B is a Super Nova Remnant T F
10. MACS J0717.5+3745 has a subcluster that exhibits an SZ effect T F
(1 point each)

Section III
Identify the Following Regions on the Diagram.

(1 point each)
Section IV Multiple Choice

Which of the following is a way a galaxy can undergo starburst?

A. The Supermassive blackhole releases tons of X-RAY emission
B. Galaxy collides with another Galaxy
C. Multiple stars explode, supernovae, at once.
D. The Active Region slows down

Which of the following stars contain the Highest Surface Temperature?

A. A
B. B
C. F
D. G

What mass star is most likely going to end up in a black hole after supernova?
A. 10 pounds
B. 10 Solar Masses
C. .5 Solar Masses
D. 30 Solar Masses

If you Inverse Hubble's Constant what does that give you?

A. Speed of Light
B. Mass of the universe
C. Age of the universe
D. Amount of Energy in the universe

What would the Schwarzschild Radius of the sun be?

A. 1000 centimeters
B. 2.9 KM
C. 39 Light Years
D. 200 meters
 What is the Chandrashekar Limit?
A. Greatest Speed a Black Hole can spin
B. Greatest mass a white dwarf can accumulate without implosion
C. Limit for Neutron Stars Mass
D. Farthest Distance a Star can Emit Radiation

What do you need to calculate distance between two stars using hubble's’ laws?
A. Redshift
B. Mass of stars
C. Recessional Velocity
D. Rate of Starburst

What is the force that keeps a star from blowing apart

A. Centripetal force
B. Gravitational
C. Magnetism
D. Strong force

Alexandra realized that earth contains elements heavier than iron! This is due to the solar
nebula that created the solar system being enriched with
A. Type II supernova
B. Nova
C. Planetary Nebula
D. Planetary Collision

A high Mass star dies more violently then a low mass star due to what?
A. It can not fuse elements higher than carbon
B. More heat and the core collapsing faster
C. Its gravity is weakened by the high energy output
D. It will end up as a blackhole so it will be violent.

LIGO detected gravitational waves from something that originated from what?
A. Merger of two black holes
B. The merger of a black hole and a star
C. A super massive blackhole eating a star
D. Dark matter being absorbed in a black hole

What is the cause of the Iron in our Bodies?

A. A planatery Nebula caused by the death of a sun-like star
B. A type 1 supernova resulted in the detonation of a white dwarf
C. A type II supernova that blew core iron all over the intersteller medium .
D. Fusion of lighter elements in the big bang that is caused by extraterrestrials.
SECTION V Math

1. In a galaxy far far away, Harshitha detected a Cepheid Variable star with an absolute
magnitude of 6 and using their satellites observed a magnitude of 30.4. What is the
distance between the Harshitha and the Cepheid Variable Star in megaparsecs.?
m-M=-5+5logD

((30.4-6)+5)/5=log D

10^(5.88) MPC

(2 points for equation, 2 points for correct substitution, 1 point for correct answer.)

2. After Astronomy Class, Jaehyun learnt that the Hubbles Constant is 70 km/s/Mpc. He
wanted to find the distance to a galaxy in which he computed the recessional velocity
to be 290,000 m/s. What is the distance to the galaxy?
V=H*D
290,000=70*D
D=290000/70
D=4143 Mpc
(1 point for correct formula, 1 point for correct answer)

3. In a galaxy far far away, an astronomer named Mitik found a new Solar System and
found an exoplanet in which he named Ilias. But due to the far distance he can’t
really calculate how much the radius is with the planet and the star! But he knows
the orbital period of the planet is 223 days. And he also calculated the mass of
planet to be the same as earths! Calculate the radius of the Orbit!

𝑇2 4𝜋2
=
𝑅3 𝐺∗𝑀
1.927e+7/R^3=4pi^2/(6.67*10^-11)*(5.972*10^24)

5793254.14678 km

(2 points for correct formula,2 points for correct substitution, 2 points for correct
answer)
4. Tony Stark was observing a star near the planet of Titan to keep an eye on Thanos. But
he wanted to know how far he is from the star. He knows the wavelength of the star to
be 620 Hz, but he observes a wavelength of 630 Hz. Calculate the distance to the star
knowing Hubbles Constant is 70 Km/s/Mpc.

Z= (Dl/l)

Z=(630-620/620)

Z=V/C

0.0161=V/(3*10^8)

V= 4838709.67742

V=H*D

D= 4838709.67742/70

D=69124 MPC

(2 point for correct doppler shift equation(one with lambda))

(2 point for relating redshift to recessional velocity)

(2 point for correct redshift)

(1 point for correct velocity)

(1 point for restating Hubble’s law)

(1 point for solving for D)

(2 point for correct value of D)

Section VI Graphs and Charts

1. Graph the Stellar evolution of the sun on this HR Diagram

(5 points for graph resembling this)

(If student states sun becomes supergiant give 3 points)
(If student does not mention main sequence line 0 points)
(Student must mention Sun becomes redgiant and white dwarf, failure to do either will
result in 0 points.)
2.
Using this chart, identify the exact star, and explain what is happening in this graph.
Identify the period, and the secondary periods using the graph. What type of star is
this, (HINT: The Graph Shows Exactly What Said Stars Do)
This is the chart of the red supergiant Betelgeuse. The chart is showing the light
curve of the star. It has a period of 2335 days and a secondary period of around 2100
days. This is a semiregular variable star!

(1 point for mentioning correct star, 2 points for correct period, 2 point for correct
secondary period, and 1 point for mentioning it’s a variable star)