Astronomy C

[christopulickal]

It's hard to find certain pictures of specific planets, are there any websites or resources I could use to find images?

[christopulickal]

Sorry for double posting, but is there any specific details we need to know about exoplanets that are absolutely required?

[syo_astro]

For finding pictures of specific exoplanets very few have been directly imaged. You should at least be able to go and find schematics, diagrams, data (like spectra, etc) on all the DSOs, and remember that not every DSO has an exoplanet (the topic also covers younger stellar evolution). As for resources or websites https://www.soinc.org/astronomy_c. You can go there and check out the newly updated webinar (Woot, Donna !), in addition to other websites (apod is always a classic, but you might just want to google "[DSO name] + apod". Going to google images alone will get you many, but you might want to check some of the pictures you take because not all of them will be applicable to your DSO depending on how the google search stuff is. If there are more specific DSOs you are having trouble with, try to ask about those.

As for specific details, that's a bit of a general topic. Technically you don't have to know anything if the test writer decides not to write about exoplanets, but that would be silly and would make for a bad test/studying habits. How has rule reading been fairing, and are you confused by what is required as far as exoplanets go? A classic tip we on the website give is look at your DSOs and see what's important about them. For example, you might see a lot about debris disks, habitability, how exoplanets form, types of exoplanets, etc. So, any specific types of exoplanets or aspects of the rules you find hard to understand?

***Major Notes: The sponsor change did change the site resources is put up on, but if you check Astronomy on soinc.org you should be able to find all essential the resources posted without fail. The webinar also explains this all, so check that out.

[sciolymom]

2016 videos are up on Chandra!
http://chandra.harvard.edu/edu/olympiad.html

[Magikarpmaster629]

Is the 'DS9 Image Analysis Software' listed under the potential information sources important at all?

[syo_astro]

Is the 'DS9 Image Analysis Software' listed under the potential information sources important at all?

Every year it's listed under section 3 "COMPETITION" I believe (and it still is this year?). It usually isn't just under recommended sources because the point is that you should at least open it up and look up a few DSOs or random stars in it and mess around . It's not totally useless either, I've used it when researching and in class (and you can make things look colorful and cool...).

[EastStroudsburg13]

The [wiki]Astronomy/DSOs[/wiki] page has the locations of the objects completely different from what I've found; is it okay if I change them?

Go for it. If you're fairly certain, then everyone gains from having more correct information.

[hqearth]

I'm new to this event, but I was wondering how people set up their binders and or computers? sorry for the newbie question

[AlphaTauri]

Whether you use you a binder or computer is completely up to you -- I know people who are ardent supporters of both sides -- but the most important thing for both is to make sure that what you have is organized. Don't just put pages or websites in without reading them; make sure you at least look through it so you know what information is where. Computers are a little better for this because you can have folders within folders, but if you tab and organize a binder appropriately, it can be just as good.

I like to have a "quick reference" sheet with most of the DSO information that I think I'll need on the test, and I use that as my primary notes. I'll only go search through my other notes (which consist of lots articles, papers, a textbook or two) if I come across something that I don't know from memory or have on my quick reference.

This obviously works best if you've been doing the event for a while and know the topics sufficiently well, but this in conjunction with a well-organized binder/computer will definitely cut down on the time you have to spend looking through your notes -- thus leaving you with more time to actually get through the test.

[tad_k_22]

Just added the Harvard ExoLab to the list of resources on soinc.org: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/smgphp/othe ... l_lab.html