4th National Astronomy Olympiad 2017 Winners Announced!

We are pleased to announced the winners of our 4th National Astronomy Olympiad 2017 (NAO2017) which was held during January-July in Nepal.

The winners of NAO2017 are:

• Bijaya Chandra Luitel, Chelsea International Academy, New Baneshwor, Kathmandu
• Tarun timalsina, Gandaki Boarding School, Pokhara, Kaski
• Bivek Lal Karn, Dhanusha science campus, Janakpur, Dhanusha
• Binaya Raj Paudyal, Capital College and Research Center - CCRC, Koteshwor, Kathmandu
• Anubhav Sharma, Rato Bangala School, Patandhoka, Lalitpur

Upon hearing the selection, the winners expressed their feeling with us as:

Bijaya Chanra Luitel, First winner/Absolute Winner

"Taking part in NAO2017 was a fantastic experience! It was wonderful to meet new faces after the incredible experience of last year. It felt incredible to come in the top 5 again and I can safely say I have gained many more valuable experiences over the course of this Olympiad session."

Tarun Timalsina, Second Winner

Thanks to the olympiad, my interest in astronomy and astrophysics has today developed into some level of expertise. If not for the olympiad, students like me who are passionate about astronomy would not have had this level of exposure. I'm really grateful that I was a part of the olympiad.

Bivek Lal Karn, Third Winner

I am very very happy to know that I'm selected in top five winners in NAO2017. First of all I thank my parents then my teachers , friends and all those who supported me to make this happen! NAO2017 gave an unforgettable experience and lots of things to learn. Thanks to NASO for creating such a beautiful platform for astronomy enthusiast.

Binaya Raj Paudyal, Fourth Winner

I am delighted being top five in prestigious and competitive, Annual Astronomy competition: 4th National Astronomy Olympiad 2017. Standing as top five students among well-deserving and equally-talented participating friends is a blissful experience.

Anubhav Sharma, Fifth Winner

Being a national winner was one of the happiest moments of my life and it has inspired me to explore more about the mysterious universe. Also, I feel a sense of responsibility that I should use my knowledge to contribute to society in any ways possible.

Congratulations to all five students for their great success! We look forward to your active participation in upcoming astronomy olympiads as possible.

The final ranks of students at closed camp is as listed below:

Winners and the participants of the closed camp will be awarded certificates and medals during a special function in Kathmandu, Nepal!

Looking forward to take part in our 5th National Astronomy Olympiad 2018? 

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Project Terranaut is Live for Nepal now!

Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) in association with Terraztra Space Exploration is pleased to announce Project Terranaut, a global outreach initiative providing an opportunity to 14 people to train like a Yuri Gagarin in Russia and one of the best performer to go to Edge of the Space for free, in Nepal! The pre-registration is now available at www.terraztra.space and will remain open till July 31, 2017 and free to all Nepalese.  

We signed an MoU with Terraztra Space Exploration to select top three scorers from Nepal to be trained like a cosmonaut in Russia during FIFA World Cup 2018. The training program will be of 10-25 days. Details will be available after the final selection.

How to participate in the program?

·         Pre-register at www.terraztra.space by july 31, 2017

·         Download Mobile App that wil be released on October 4, 2017 and participate in the different contest available!

·         Top three scorers will be selected to participate in the astronaut training in Russia during FIFA World Cup 2018

Who are eligible?

·         Anyone who are between 18-65 years of age

·         Must be a Nepali citizen

Among the fourteen selected participants, one will be choosen to fly to the 'Edge of Space'.

Asteroid Day Nepal 2017 remains a great success!

Toay, we had a special Asteroid Day event in association with Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) at its auditarium hall with ~200 participants!

High school students were from Himalaya Vidya Mandir Higher Secondary School and Bright Land English Higher Secondary School while the participants included officials from different professional organisations in Nepal.

Chief Guest Er. Rishi Shah, academician at NAST and patron at NASO highlighted the importance of science and technology for the development of the nation and the role that everyone living in the society has equal role to build our society for better life on earth.

Ms. Manisha Dwa, WIAN/UNAWE-Nepal and project coordinator at NASO highlighted the need of  women engagement for better science community in the country!

Then the program went through a different environment for the video and documentary show at the academic hall of NAST. The documentary covered various topics like;

• Size of our solar system(in two different style of explanation)
• Short video about Chelyabinsk incidence and shockwaves.
• Brief introduction about how asteroid really had killed the dinosaurs.
• Recreating an asteroid strike that Killed dinosaurs – a lab experiment video by NASA.
• Impact records from 2000 to 2013 – demography on daily incidents.

After the documentary series, Mr. Suresh Bhattarai, Chairman of NASO, gave an excellent speech on "The mitigation measures during Asteroid attack, and also talked about civil defenses and future awareness programs. After the speech, we had a ten-minute break for the tea and snacks. Then considering queries form participants we had another session called Interaction program about asteroid and related areas. So, participants had Interaction with  Er.Rishi Shah, Mr. Suresh Bhattarai and Ms. Manisha Dwa. Participants from the different background raised series of queries.

Participants from 4th National Astronomy Olympiad 2017 closed camp were introduced to the audience and provided an opportunity to explore NAST and National Forensic Science Laboratory which is closed to the event venue.

The program was designated to be finished between two hours but it lasted for another one and half-hour. Our team could feel the demand of the program to be continued on but we stopped there and gave a promise to bring such program again in the future.