In view of the developing COVID-19 situation, this post serves to address the activation of our contingency plan for an online-only format (“AC Online”) for AstroChallenge 2020. Please read the AstroChallenge 2020 Contingency Plans for details of the format changes in accordance to the contingency plans of AstroChallenge 2020.

We understand that this is an entirely novel situation for teachers, students and organizers alike, the organizing committee of AstroChallenge 2020 has decided to extend the registration deadline to 1st May 2020. The committee would also like to find out your interest in participating in AstroChallenge 2020, in view of the format changes. This will be of great help to the organising committee in logistical arrangements for the event. Please kindly reply to us to indicate your interest in participation.

Do note that registration has to be performed online through https://www.astrochallenge.org/ before the deadline. Indications of interest in participation through email do not register your team for AstroChallenge 2020.

If there is any concern or query regarding these format revisions or AstroChallenge 2020 in general, you may contact the organising committee at astrochallenge@gmail.com to seek further clarifications. We seek your understanding in these trying times and we look forward to bringing you a rigourous, challenging and fun competition!

Thanks and Best Regards
Grace Huang Wei (Ms)
Chairperson of AstroChallenge 2020
Vice-President of NUS Astronomical Society

Dear all,

We would like to cordially invite you to participate in AstroChallenge 2020.  This year’s AstroChallenge 2020 will be held on 23rd May, 30^th May and 13th June 2020. Registration can be performed at this link. Please register under “Junior” if either you are a secondary school or if you are enrolled in the first 4 years of an IP/IB school. If you are enrolled in a Junior College, Polytechnic or the last 2 years of an IP/IB school, please register under “Senior”.

With this, we are proud to present to you the list of format changes for AstroChallenge 2020. These changes will mainly affect the Senior teams during Observation Round.

We are also delighted to present to you the 20 questions and important information (including the submission format and rubrics) regarding the Project Round. They are in the Project Round Infosheet

If you have any query with regards to AstroChallenge 2020, kindly direct them to astrochallenge@gmail.com. Furthermore, do keep a lookout on our facebook page for more updates on information pertaining to AC2020.

Regards,
AC 2020 Organizing Committee

Dear All,

The AC2019 Hall of Fame has now been uploaded, and may be found here. We have also uploaded the Day 1 question papers and partial solutions onto our website. Solutions to the Team Round will be uploaded shortly.

For photos of AC2019, as well as the top 3 videos for each category, please do visit our Facebook page!

Should you have any queries or feedback regarding AC2019, feel free to email us.

All the best for AC2020!

The AC2019 Organizing Committee

Dear all, thank you for participating in AstroChallenge 2019. We hope that you had a memorable experience and attained new knowledge in astronomy. We strongly believe in our vision: to enhance student’s interest in astronomy and to foster close inter-school ties in this field. Your keen interest in this AstroChallenge is a solid proof to it.

Below is the list of award winners of AstroChallenge 2019:

Junior Category:

• Most Popular Exhibit: Bukit Panjang Government High School Team 2
• Best Project Exhibit: National Junior College
• Best Video: Raffles Girls School Team 2
• Best Astronomer: Choong Kai Zhe (Raffles Institution Team 1)
• 2nd Runners-Up: NUS High School of Math and Science Team 1
• 1st Runners-Up: Raffles Institution Team 1
• Champion: Bukit Panjang Government High School Team 1

Senior Category:

• Most Popular Exhibit: Hwa Chong Institution Team 3
• Best Project Exhibit: River Valley High School
• Best Video: Victoria Junior College Team 2
• Best Astronomer: Yang Yuchen (Hwa Chong Institution Team 1)
• Best Observation: Raffles Institution
• 2nd Runners-Up: Hwa Chong Institution Team 1
• 1st Runners-Up: Raffles Institution Team 1
• Champion: NUS High School of Math and Science Team 1

Congratulations to all the prize recipients! We hope that all of you have meaningful takeaways from this event.

We would also want to hear from you how you find AstroChallenge 2019. Please take a few minutes to complete the feedback form at: https://tinyurl.com/AC2019Feedback. Your input can help us make the next AC even better! Looking forward to seeing you again in AstroChallenge 2020.

Dear all,

In response to a participant query, we will like to confirm that the Project Round Rubrics will be similar to what has been used in previous years. A copy of the rubrics may be found here.

Dear All,

We sincerely apologize for the long wait you have had to endure for us to come up with this information letter. We have to admit that there were quite alot of changes necessary. As such, We, the AC2019 Organizing Committee would like to implore you to read this Information Letter closely.

The Letter can be found here.

We would also like to take this opportunity to kindly remind everyone that the deadline for AC2019 registration has been extended to 2359 hrs on Friday the 17th of May 2019.

As usual, if you should have any questions at all regarding this letter or any other issue, email us. We will get back to you as soon as we can.

We wish you Clear Skies ahead and thank you for your support for Astrochallenge.

Due to popular feedback from schools, we have decided to extend the deadline to 2359 hrs on Friday the 17th May 2019. As the final details in the Information Letter are still being hammered out, we will be sending that to you shortly.

Please follow the link to register.

Thank you very much for your support!

Dear all,

We are proud to present to you another rendition of AstroChallenge rhis year. If you have not done so, please register at this link. Please register under “Junior” if either you are a secondary school or if you are enrolled in the first 4 years of an IP/IB school. If you are enrolled in a Junior College, Polytechnic or the last 2 years of an IP/IB school, please register under “Senior”. Any queries, any at all can be directed to astrochallenge@gmail.com. We will try our best to reply you as soon and as well as we possibly can.

With this, we are also delighted to present to you 30 questions for you to ponder about for the Project Round. This segment would count 35pc for Junior Section and 25pc for Senior Section this year. They are in the document attached below.

With regards to the Project Round, do include a written transcript for your video (can be in doc/pdf) and submit the transcript together with your video on Day 0 (31st May 2019) of AstroChallenge. At the end of your transcript, do include the references that you have used for your video.

Once again, if you have any queries with regards to AstroChallenge 2019, kindly direct them to astrochallenge@gmail.com. Furthermore, do keep a lookout on our facebook page for more updates on information pertaining to AC2019.

Regards,
AC 2019 Organizing Committee

Project Round Questions

Dear Teachers-in-charge and School Astronomy Clubs,

Thank you for submitting your feedback for our proposed reforms to AC2019. In response, we have fine-tuned our proposals in order to make AC2019 more accessible to all. We have summarized the major changes to AC in the attached changelog. Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.

In conjunction with our goals of making astronomy accessible to all participants, we would like to invite all potential participants of AC2019 to come down to the NUS Astro introductory sessions on astronomy. We hope that these sessions will be fruitful for beginners to astronomy that are looking for a place to start learning from. The dates of the sessions and session details are available at this link. Should you be interested, please check for updates about the session venues and details at the NUS Astro Facebook page

Regards,
The AC2019 Committee