Pennsylvania Science Olympiad Astronomy Exam Guide

PENNSYLVANIA SCIENCE OLYMPIAD DIVISION C ASTRONOMY EXAM Team Number _______ Team Name _______________________________________________________________________ DO NOT OPEN THE EXAM UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO. WRITE YOUR TEAM NAME AND NUMBER ON THE TEST AND ANSWER SHEETS.

PENNSYLVANIA SCIENCE OLYMPIAD STATE FINALS 2023 ASTRONOMY C DIVISION EXAM APRIL 22, 2023

INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Turn in all exam materials at the end of this event. Missing exam materials will result in immediate disqualification of the team in question . There is an exam booklet, an image packet, and 3 blank answer sheets. 2. You may separate the exam pages. 3. Only the answers provided on the answer page will be considered. Do not write outside the designated spaces for each answer. You may write in the exam booklet. 4. Write your team number and school name on the front page of the test booklet and each page of the answer sheets. By doing so, you agree to the General Rules, Code of Ethics, and Spirit of the Problem as defined on the Science Olympiad website: https://www.soinc.org/code-ethics-general-rules . 5. Failure to indicate school name and number on each page of the answer sheets will result in the answer sheet being unscored and discarded. 6. Each question is worth one point. Tiebreaker questions are indicated with a (T#) in which the number indicates the order of consultation in the event of a tie. Tiebreaker questions count toward the overall raw score, and are only used as tiebreakers when there is a tie. In such cases, (T1) will be examined first, then (T2), and so on until the tie is broken. There are 20 tiebreakers. 7. When the time is up, the time is up . Continuing to write after the time is up will result in a deduction of -10 applied to the raw score. 8. Nonsensical, mocking, or inappropriate answers WILL RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION. 9. In the bonus line on the answer sheet, indicate the name of the woman shown in the image on the 2 nd cover sheet. Not the shouting musical festival woman, the other one. 10. Staple the exam booklet back together when your materials are submitted. The pages do not need to be in order but the title page MUST be on top. 11. Illegible answers will be considered wrong. If I can’t read it, I can’t score it. 12. Leave the answer sheets separate.

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SECTION 1: Questions 1-40 refer to the objects listed in section 3c, page C6, of the 2023 Science Olympiad Division C Rules Manual. “Identify and answer questions relating to the content areas outlined above for the following objects.” The term object used in this section of the exam refers to one of the listed objects. 47 Tucanae is the second brightest object of its type in terms of apparent magnitude. 1. (T18) Which image shows 47 Tucanae? 2. What type of object is 47 Tucanae? 47 Tucanae X9 is a notable object discovered in 47 Tucanae. 3. What is the nature of 47 Tucanae X9? 4. Which image shows the spectrum of this notable object? In early 2008, a group of Princeton researchers had reserved observation time with the Swift satellite (since renamed the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory ) and had it pointed in just the right direction at just the right time. 5. (T5) What did these researchers get to see in real time? 6. Which image shows this event as seen by Swift’s X-ray telescope? 7. Which image shows the light curve for this event? 8. Which image shows the spectrum for this event? 9. In what galaxy did this event take place? Consider Image 7 for questions 10 - 13. 10. Which object is shown in this image? 11. Which image shows the light curve for this object? 12. Which image shows the spectrum for this object? 13. How does the GCVS categorize objects of this type?

One of the objects is named (informally) for the insect shown. 14. (T12) Which object is this? 15. Which image shows this object? 16. Which image shows this object’s spectrum? 17. This ion was detected (in space) for the first time in this object. 18. What is suspected to have caused this object’s complex morphology? Consider image 17 for questions 19 – 22. 19. (T9) Which object created this light curve? 20. Which image shows the spectrum from this object? 21. Which image shows the object as seen by the Spitzer Space Telescope? 22. Why did this object’s period decrease between 1700 and 1950? One of the objects is a Classical Cepheid. Consider this object for questions 23 – 26. 23. Which image shows this object as seen by the HST? 24. (T1) Which image shows the light curve generated by this object? 25. How does the nebulosity around the object contribute to a distance measurement? 26. What is the translation of the Latin name for the constellation in which this object is found? One of the images shows evidence for a neutron star merger. Consider for questions 27 – 29. 27. (T16) Which image indicates this event? 28. What is the designation for the electromagnetic counterpart to this event? 29. What is the generic name for this kind of merger event?

Consider image 12 for questions 30 – 33. 30. Which object is shown in image 12? 31. Which image shows the light curve for this object? 32. What is the formal designation for the nebulosity around the object in image 12? 33. What type of object(s) are present in image 12? One of the objects is a dwarf nova. Consider this object for questions 34 – 37. 34. (T13) Which object is a dwarf nova? 35. Which image shows this object? 36. Which image shows this object’s light curve? 37. How is this type of object classified by the GCVS? 38. (T20) Which image shows an unusual Wolf-Rayet star that seems to have formed from a binary interaction? 39. Which object appears in the constellation shown at right? 40. Which image shows this object’s light curve? END OF SECTION 1

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A B C D E F G SECTION 2: Questions 41 - 70 deal primarily with the concepts and types of astronomical objects listed in section 3a, page C6, of the 2023 Science Olympiad Division C Rules Manual. Consider the H-R diagram shown at right for questions 41 – 45. 41. (T2) What type of astronomical object would produce this H-R diagram? 42. What is the term for region F in the diagram? 43. What is the term for region E in the diagram? 44. What is the term for region A in the diagram? 45. What would you find in region G in the diagram? 46. LBV stars (not exclusively) frequently display this spectroscopic feature whereby the same line appears both in emission and relatively blueshifted absorption. 47. (T6) What does the spectroscopic feature in #46 indicate? 48. What is the region of the H-R diagram in which you would find LBVs? 49. This serves as an upper limit on the luminosity of LBV stars. 50. How are WNE stars similar to WNL stars? 51. (T17) How are WNE stars dissimilar to WNL stars? 52. What is the final stage in the evolution of most Wolf-Rayet stars? 53. A particular white dwarf star is classified with a spectrum DQ. What is the implication of the symbol “D” in its description? 54. What is the implication of the symbol “Q” in the DQ white dwarf description? 55. (T19) Why would a white dwarf display metal lines in its spectrum?

56. Some white dwarf stars are variable. What mechanism drives this variability? 57. These stars are in transition from the central star in a planetary nebula to a white dwarf. 58. The stars referred to in question 57 are sometimes subdivided into these two classes. Consider a high-mass X-ray binary in which the compact object is a remnant neutron star and the other object is a red giant. This applies to questions 59 – 65. 59. What process is creating the observed X-rays? 60. Mass accumulating on the neutron star can be subject to a rapid thermonuclear fusion event, resulting in a tenfold increase in luminosity that peaks in X-ray. What would this event be called observationally? 61. What type of cataclysmic variable does the event in question 60 resemble? 62. Why might the neutron star have a velocity relative to the original orbit of its progenitor? 63. What type of object results if this relative velocity intersects with the red giant? 64. What must be exceeded in order for this object to collapse into a black hole? 65. What would this object “look” like, assuming it did not collapse into a black hole?

66. (T14) How are Mira variables and semiregular variables classified together? 67. What is the major difference between Mira variables and semiregular variables? Cepheid variable stars are divided into categories (type I and type II). Before this differentiation took place, both types were lumped together. 68. What consequence did this differentiation have for the size estimates of the universe? 69. To what subclass would you categorize a type II Cepheid with a period of 4 days? 70. (T10) What is the source of Cepheid variable stars’ pulsation? END OF SECTION 2

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SECTION 3: Questions 71 - 90 deal primarily with the concepts and mathematical relationships listed in section 3b, page C6, of the 2023 Science Olympiad Division C Rules Manual. SN 2010cz was observed in an anonymous spiral galaxy. This was an average Type Ia supernova. Below is the light curve for this event. Use this image for questions 71 – 74. 71. Determine the apparent magnitude of the supernova at maximum. 72. Determine the absolute magnitude of the supernova at maximum. 73. (T8) Determine the distance modulus for this event, assuming no extinction. 74. Determine the distance to the host galaxy in megaparsecs. 75. (T3) A particular white dwarf star has a surface temperature of 46000 K and a radius of 6500 km. Calculate its luminosity in solar luminosity units to three significant figures of precision. 76. A particular red supergiant star has a radius 287 times that of the sun and a luminosity of 26700 L ¤ . Calculate the effective surface temperature of this star in Kelvins.

The artist conception below shows a symbiotic variable star system. One such system, designated V1329 Cyg, consists of a primary star of mass 2.1M ¤ and a secondary star of mass 0.74 M ¤ (where M ¤ is the mass of the sun) orbiting each other with a period of 956 days in circular orbits. Use this information for questions 77 – 84. Provide 3 significant figures of precision. 77. (T7) Calculate the orbital separation of the stars in the system, in AU. 78. Calculate the orbital radius of the primary star in km. 79. Calculate the orbital radius of the secondary star in km. 80. Calculate the orbital velocity of the primary star in km/s. 81. Calculate the orbital velocity of the secondary star in km/s. 82. Calculate the gravitational potential energy of the system. 83. Calculate the total energy of the system. 84. Calculate the angular momentum of the system (exclude rotational component) NGC 1501, shown at right, is a nearly circular planetary nebula, located in the constellation Camelopardalis. The nebula is estimated to be 4240 light years away, and subtends an angle of 0.863 arc minutes. Use this information for questions 85 and 86. 85. Calculate the radius of the nebula in light years. 86. (T11) Calculate the nebula’s parallax angle in mas.

The light curve shown below was created by combining observations of a variable star. The vertical axis indicates apparent magnitude and the horizontal axis indicates the phase of the variability. Use this diagram and the following information for questions 87 – 90. One accepted period-luminosity relation (according to Lanoix, et al, 1999) for stars of this type is as follows: ࠵? ࠵? = −࠵?. ࠵?࠵?(࠵?࠵?࠵? ࠵? − ࠵?) − ࠵?. ࠵?࠵? Where m v is the absolute magnitude and P is the period in days. 87. Based on the shape of the light curve, what type of star is this? 88. (T15) Determine the absolute magnitude of this star. 89. Determine the mean apparent magnitude of this star. 90. Determine the distance to this star in parsecs. END OF SECTION 3

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SECTION 4: For questions numbered 91-100, provide the term, acronym, name, or phrase that best fits the description provided. 91. This is the mechanism by which mass is accreted in most symbiotic stars. 92. A young star typically exhibits this feature in its SED owing to absorption and reemission of starlight at longer wavelengths by circumstellar dust. 93. This type of diagram shows how the interior of a star evolves over time, including the appearance of convective burning cores/shells. 94. This is the collective term used for both Type Ib and Type Ic supernovae (NOT Type Ibc). 95. These are the units of surface brightness, used typically for a spatially extended object such as a galaxy. 96. (T4) This radiation law describes the radiant energy output of an object as it relates to the object’s temperature. 97. A rapidly spinning compact object such as a neutron star that is not a perfect sphere (its surface has a “bump” or imperfection) will generate this type of gravitational wave. 98. This method of distance determination for Cepheids involves the measurement of color, surface brightness, apparent magnitude, angular diameter, and radial velocity of the surface at various points in the star’s pulsation. 99. The term for this phenomenon (or type of object) is a misnomer because when the term was originated, the limits of telescopic power at the time caused the phenomenon to be misinterpreted. 100. An astronomer observes an object through different filters, then records and compares the respective magnitudes of the object. What is the astronomer measuring? END OF SECTION 4

Image 1 Image 2 Image 3 Image 4 Image 5 Image 6

Image 7 Image 8 Image 9 Image 10 Image 12 Image 11

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Image 13 Image 15 Image 16 Image 14 Image 17 Image 18 Image 19 Image 20

Image 21 Image 24 Image 22 Image 23 Image 25 Image 26 Image 27 Image 28

Division C ASTRONOMY Answer Sheet Team Name _________________________________________________________ Team # _______ SECTION 1 T18 1.________________ 21.________________ 2.________________________ 22.________________________________ 3._____________________________________________ 23.________________ 4.________________ T1 24.________________ T5 5.________________ 25.________________ 6.________________ 26.________________ 7.________________ T16 27.________________ 8.________________ 28.________________ 9.________________ 29.________________ 10._______________ 30.________________ 11.________________ 31.________________ 12.________________ 32.________________ 13._________________ 33.___________________________ T12 14._________________ T13 34.________________ 15._________________ 35.________________ 16._________________ 36.________________ 17.____________________________ 37.________________ 18._______________________________________ T20 38. ________________ T9 19._________________ 39._________________ 20._________________ 40._________________ BONUS__________________________ Page Score ______ out of _____ page points Total Score____________ Rank _____________

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Division C ASTRONOMY Answer Sheet Team Name _________________________________________________________ Team # _______ SECTION 2 T2 41.________________________________________________________________________________________________ 42. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 43. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 44. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 45._________________________________________________________________________________________________ 46.________________________________________________________________________________________________ T6 47. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 48. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 49. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 50._________________________________________________________________________________________________ T17 51. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 52. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 53. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 54. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ T19 55. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 56. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 57. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 58. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 59. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 60. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 61. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 62. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 63. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 64. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 65. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ T14 66. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 67. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 68. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ 69._________________________________________________________________________________________________ T10 70. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Page Score ______ out of _____ page points Total Score____________ Rank _____________

Division C ASTRONOMY Answer Sheet Team Name _________________________________________________________ Team # _______ SECTIONS 3 & 4 71.______________________________ 90. ______________________________ 72.______________________________ 91. ______________________________ T8 73.______________________________ 92. ______________________________ 74.______________________________ 93. ______________________________ T3 75.______________________________ 94. ______________________________ 76.______________________________ 95. ______________________________ T7 77.______________________________ T4 96. ______________________________ 78.______________________________ 97. ______________________________ 79.______________________________ 98. ______________________________ 80._______________________________ 99. ______________________________ 81._______________________________ 100. ______________________________ 82._______________________________ 83._______________________________ 84._______________________________ 85._______________________________ T11 86._______________________________ 87._______________________________ T15 88._______________________________ 89._______________________________ Page Score ______ out of _____ page points Total Score____________ Rank _____________

Division C ASTRONOMY Answer KEY Team Name _________________________________________________________ Team # _______ Page Score ______ out of _____ page points Total Score____________ Rank _____________ SECTION 1 T18 1. Image 6 21. Image 1 2. Globular cluster 22. Completion of a thermal pulse 3. Black hole pulling mass from white dwarf 23. Image 8 4. Image 26 T1 24. Image 16 T5 5. SN 2008D 25. Light echoes 6. Image 11 26. “poop deck” 7. Image 18 T16 27. Image 25 8. Image 28 28. AT2017gfo 9. NGC 2770 29. Kilonova (GRB) 10. AG Carinae 30. R Aquarii 11. Image 13 31. Image 19 12. Image 27 32. Cederblad 211 13. SDOR (S Doradus) 33. Mira + white dwarf, symbiotic binary T12 14. NGC 7027 T13 34. SS Cygni 15. Image 3 35. Image 2 16. Image 22 36. Image 14 17. Helium Hydride HeH + 37. UGSS 18. Undetected binary T20 38. Image 5 T9 19. R Hydrae 39. W Virginis 20. Image 23 40. Image 15 BONUS. Alicia Soderberg

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Division C ASTRONOMY Answer KEY Team Name _________________________________________________________ Team # _______ Page Score ______ out of _____ page points Total Score____________ Rank _____________ SECTION 2 T2 41. Globular cluster 42. Horizontal branch 43. Asymptotic Giant branch 44. Subgiant branch 45. Blue stragglers 46. P Cygni profile T6 47. Mass loss, rapidly expanding gas 48. S Doradus instability strip 49. Humphreys-Davidson limit 50. He and H abundances are similar, from the CNO cycle T17 51. WNE has no hydrogen, WNL has hydrogen 52. Type Ibc supernova 53. Degenerate 54. The presence of atomic or molecular carbon T19 55. It accreted a rocky planet recently 56. Gravitational wave pulsation 57. PG 1159 or GW Vir 58. DOV and PNNV 59. Stellar wind from the red giant falling onto the neutron star 60. X-Ray burster 61. Recurrent nova 62. It may receive a “kick” from an asymmetrical supernova explosion 63. Thorne-Zytkow object 64. Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit 65. A red supergiant with unusual isotopes or a Wolf-Rayet star T14 66. Long period variables (LPV) 67. Mira stars pulsate in the fundamental mode, semiregular stars pulsate in overtones 68. Walter Baade doubled the size of the universe in 1952 69. BL Herculis T10 70. k mechanism, helium opacity, Eddington valve

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Division C ASTRONOMY Answer KEY Team Name _________________________________________________________ Team # _______ Page Score ______ out of _____ page points Total Score____________ Rank _____________ SECTIONS 3 & 4 71. 17 90. 85100 parsec 72. -19.3 91. Wind accretion or Bondi-Hoyle accretion T8 73. 36.3 92. Infrared excess 74. 182 Mpc 93. Kippenhahn diagram T3 75. 0.351 94. Stripped core-collapse 76. 4360 K 95. Magnitudes per square arcsecond T7 77. 2.69 AU T4 96. Stefan-Boltzmann 78. 1.05E8 km 97. continuous 79. 2.98E8 km 98. Baade-Wesselink method 80. 8.00 km/hr 99. Planetary nebula 81. 22.7 km/hr 100. Color index 82. -1.03E39 J 83. -5.14E38 J 84. 1.35E46 kg m 2 /s 85. 0.532 ly T11 86. 0.769 mas 87. Classical Cepheid T15 88. -5.95 89. 13.7

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PA_State_Astro_Test_Key_2023

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