Josephian Attains Bronze Medal at 10th Singapore Astronomy Olympiad
1 March 2023
Monai Sitavarin won Bronze at the 10th Singapore Astronomy Olympiad. Read how he performed across the three rounds.
Congratulations to our Year 3 Josephian – Monai Sitavarin (MN303) who secured the bronze medal in the prestigious 10th Singapore Astronomy Olympiad (SAO) at Raffles Institution on 11 March. The SAO is a nationwide competition focused on Astronomy and Astrophysics, designed to identify potential candidates to represent Singapore in the upcoming International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) that is scheduled to be held in Poland later this year.
Comprising three distinct sections, namely the Theoretical, Data Analysis, and Observation Round, the SAO challenges participants in various aspects of the subject. The entire examination lasts for four hours, allowing participants the flexibility to answer questions in any order they prefer. The Theoretical round encompassed multiple-choice, short-response, and long-response questions, predominantly revolving around computational astronomy and astrophysics. The Data Analysis round primarily featured inquiries related to professional astronomy research involving graph plotting and basic statistics. Lastly, the Observation round entailed two components: Telescope parts and the observation of celestial objects and constellations in the night sky.
Monai showcased his strengths and demonstrated exceptional performance in both the theoretical and observation rounds, but he could not complete the data analysis section due to time constraints. Nevertheless, his overall performance was commendable, thus securing the bronze medal. His achievement in the previous year's International Junior Astronomy Olympiad in Romania, where he obtained a silver medal, had significantly contributed to his success. Monai aspires to improve his performance in the upcoming 11th SAO, exhibiting great determination and effort.
Monai with Mr Joogal, Teacher I/C for Astronomy Club (CAS)