Introductory books for Astronomy/Astrophysics Olympiad preparation

[Homelilly]

Could you recommend a good introductory book into Astronomy/Astrophysics but that is capable to prepare for Astronomy Olympiad? We have Karttunen and Salvati at home. Are they enough? Thanks!

 

[jedishrfu]

The best strategy would be to find problems from prior Astronomy Olympiads and work on them to identify weaknesses. Map out how much time you have to get ready for the test ie how many weeks.

https://www.soinc.org/astronomy-c

You don't have the time to read everything about astronomy and must rely on what you know now. You can use your knowledge of weaknesses to guide you in spot reading. It may be necessary to review some prerequisite material, but you must avoid the temptation of reading the entire book.

Focus on your weaknesses by reading from a few good astronomy resources, including Feynman's Lectures on Physics and the free online Astronomy textbook from Rice University.

https://openstax.org/details/books/astronomy-2e

https://openstax.org/details/books/university-physics-volume-1

https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/

Please continue practicing problem-solving and reviewing your weaknesses before timing yourself while taking the test. You might also create flashcards with your weaknesses, answers, and book reference backups.

Test taking is another area to explore. I'm not familiar with how these tests are designed, but if some questions are multiple-choice, then eliminating obviously wrong answers increases your chances of guessing correctly.

 

[TensorCalculus]

Salvati is very good. Another good one is ryden, but it covers some things beyond the IOAA syllabus. You can find the book as a free PDF online. Good luck on your Astrophysics Olympaid prep! (I am prepping too!). Also, I have really benefitted from these astrophysics problems of the day, just do one daily to keep skills sharp: https://rajit13.github.io/website_docs/Astro_POTD.pdf. If you want more things, feel free to DM me :-)