This year’s theme was dedicated to comets, a very current topic brought to the forefront by the recent perihelion passage of comet ISON.
And once again this year, students seized the opportunity to showcase their expertise, or even just their interest, in a subject rarely covered in school but always fascinating.
624 students across Italy, divided into junior and senior categories (download the list here), tackled the theme and more than half managed to qualify for the interregional phases to be held on Monday, February 17, 2014: 5 astronomy exercises, this time, complete with numbers, calculations, and reasoning. To have fun with the problems of the cosmos.
For Sardinia, here is the list of students admitted to the February tests:
Emanuela Gamboni (Scientific High School E. Lussu, Sant’Antioco)
Marcello Marcello (Scientific High School Michelangelo, Cagliari)
Daniele Spano (Scientific High School G. Marconi, Sassari)
In the period leading up to the test, no one will be left alone, because the Olympics are not for those who already know astronomy, but for those who want to learn it: participants and their teachers can rely on the support of the Cagliari Astronomical Observatory for clarifications and meetings.
Each of those admitted will also receive two volumes from the Chiavi di Lettura series, a gift from the Zanichelli publishing house, which has been supporting cultural promotion through the Astronomy Olympics for over 6 years.
Beyond the Olympics
For those who want to get the most out of what they’ve learned, we remind you of two other comet competitions you can participate in in the coming months:
the Schiaparelli Prize, promoted by SAIt and INAF-Brera Astronomical Observatory (deadline: January 26, 2014)
The ESA competition: Wake-up Rosetta! (deadline: January 20)