Observation Round Brief

Intro Each school will send one team of 5 to represent the school. The Obs team can come from any of the team members from the school All teams from the school will receive the same score for Observation Round.

Summary The Observation Round is split into two components The Theory Ob Round (1630 – 1730) Teams will split up and attempt a paper within the specified time limit The Practical Ob Round (Ends by 2130) Teams will be judged on their practical handling skills and technical proficiency By default, the rounds will be weighted 40/60 in favour of the Practical Ob Round

Theory Ob Round Teams will divide themselves into two halves. Each half will go to separate LTs. You will receive your scripts within each LT. Follow the instructions on the script. Each LT has several stations: you must complete each station by the end of the round. Both halves will NOT communicate with each other during the duration of the paper No unauthorized reference materials are allowed. Possession of unauthorized materials will be taken as intent to cheat.

Theory Ob Round Contents You should expect to see: Constellation ID questions (60, average) Night Sky ID questions (60, average) A finding chart problem (15 + 15) A different Stellarium problem for each team (30 + 30) For a total score of 210 points

Transition to Practical Ob Round At the end of the Theory Ob Round, team A in LT 28 will collect the Practical Ob Round script for their schools. Do not lose the script; it contains instructions for you to ponder upon over dinner. You will pass the script to your assessors for them to grade.

Practical Round Components The Practical Round has 3 major components Telescope Setup (15%) Individual Component (50%) Individuals will be given a list of targets, some of which must be boresighted FFA (35%) The entire team is free to find any DSO that is not listed in the Individual Component

Practical Ob Round - Setup Please collect your equipment from the storage area (E5-03-22). Setup your telescope between 1800-1930 in the presence of an assessor (pass them the script) at the Engineering Bridge. Collect back your graded script once the setup component is complete.

List of Telescope Setup Assessors Released on Day 1

Practical Ob Round (<2000?-2130) The Practical Ob Round is open-universe; however we disallow communication with external parties and digital setting circles. For the main bulk of the Practical Ob Round, you will be assigned to specific assessor(s). Your job is to convince them that you have indeed found the claimed object. If successful, they will countersign on the script

Practical Observation Round Guidelines Objects should be visible i.e. do not show me empty patches of sky and claim there are objects there Only ONE object in the eyepiece FOV No double-counting allowed You should explain what makes special stars "special" if they are not resolvable double stars.  For at least 1 MINUTE

What do we mean by “one object in FOV”?

List of Pairings Released on Day 1

Questions?