Scioly.org

pjgscioisamazing wrote:

AlphaTauri wrote: Mira might as well, since it's a high-mass varstar

Mira is a solar mass variable star (well just over 1 Solar Mass), it's on the AGB which is eventually what the sun will become. Mira will shed it's outer layers and become a white dwarf at the end of its red giant phase.

Oh yeah, you're right. My bad, I think I confused Mira with other kinds of varstars.

On that note, perhaps we'll see Cepheid, LBV, Wolf-Rayet, and/or RV Tau variables on the DSO list. (Haha, the more I think about this, the bigger the list of potential DSOs becomes...)

Does anyone think some other objects could come up like SN2006gy, Vela Pulsar, G292.0+1.8, Crescent Nebula, etc (though, Alpha your list looks like it will have at least a few that will show up). Pretty much things I found on Chandra. Are different types of Type II supernovae/remnants (Type II-P, II-L, IIn, IIb, etc) on that list? I know there is II-P with SN 1987a and most of it seems good.

Will the math be pretty similar? I guess distance modulus can still be asked about, maybe some questions about light curves/spectral lines, and if they want some binary system stuff, but they may just not ask about Type Ia being a standard candle. Instead maybe more questions about blackbody/size to find luminosity and going from there.

Edit: Also, since I hear stellar evolution will still be a theme, could they start to really expand the questions to a variety of stars (like brown dwarfs or just all types of them...)

The math is generally constant, regardless of the topic. Things may change slightly between variables and galaxies, but going from low-mass evolution to high-mass evolution should allow proctors to use the same equations. And depending on the test you took, proctors really could expand to all different areas of stellar evolution. PA States is an example. You should take it, it's fun.

EASTstroudsburg13 wrote:The math is generally constant, regardless of the topic. Things may change slightly between variables and galaxies, but going from low-mass evolution to high-mass evolution should allow proctors to use the same equations. And depending on the test you took, proctors really could expand to all different areas of stellar evolution. PA States is an example. You should take it, it's fun.

I have, it is quite "fun". Though, I think NY States is just as "fun" just in a little different way. You should take that too. I am curious what it will be like next year (I believe I gave it to quiz who gave it to Luo who put it on the test exchange).

Edit: Also, sorry I didn't notice that the Vela Pulsar was mentioned, but I don't think the others were. I guess some other possible ones would be G350.1-0.3, N49 (there are a lot of potential choices). I guess the point is that there will be pulsars/neutron stars, nebulae, high mass stars (red/blue/hypergiants), SNRs, black holes, clusters. I am just thinking there could be other variable stars or maybe more SNs/SNRs.

The Nationals test is up at AAVSO, in case anyone hasn't seen it yet.

I was interested in getting a head start on studying for Astronomy, I'm kind of new to the event, so where would be some good places to start?

I have these links to get me started:
http://www.astr.ua.edu/Courses.html
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast162/
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/
http://astronomynotes.com/

Any other resources you guys use/know would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Orange714 wrote:I was interested in getting a head start on studying for Astronomy, I'm kind of new to the event, so where would be some good places to start?

I have these links to get me started:
http://www.astr.ua.edu/Courses.html
http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast162/
http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/
http://astronomynotes.com/

Any other resources you guys use/know would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Well, for general resources I think other people have more, but those are good. For the DSOs that can be asked about I usually use http://chandra.harvard.edu/, AAVSO.org, or if I can't find anything there then I look it up on google. I also somtimes look at apod.com to learn some random objects/they usually have the DSOs somewhere. Hope that helps.

Don't forget the Astronomy Wiki, which also has a lot of good resources.

I'd also like to add HyperPhysics. It's not a standalone resource, but it's very good as a supplement to other resources. Plus, Astrophysics is only one of the physics-related topics the site goes into.

syo_astro and myself, being astronomy geeks with nothing else to do over the summer, have decided to start a blog geared towards SciO Astronomy. We'll try to cover all the major topics in the event as well as provide some tips for competition. We don't have much material written yet, but we'll get there.

http://onwardtotheedge.wordpress.com