5th National Astronomy Olympiad 2018 Conlcudes with two internaional participations!

The 5th National Astronomy Olympiad held this year concluded with two international participation! This year Students qualified for the international Olympiads were facilitated to participate at the 23rd International Astronomy Olympiad 2018 (IAO2018) in Colombo, Sri-Lanka & the 12th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2018 (IOAA2018) in Beijing, China respectively.

Mr. Bishal Baral (6th at NAO2018), Rato Bangala School, Patan and Mr. Hardik Shrestha (8th at NAO2018) at the 23rd International Astronomy Olympiad, October 6-14, 2018, Colombo, Sri-Lanka. Mr. Baral received a special award for the best result among the newly participating countries for Nepal.

Photo 1: Team Nepal at the 23rd International Astronomy Olympiad (XXIII IAO), October 4-14, 2018, Colombo, Sri Lanka. From left: Mr. Manisha Dwa, Mr. Hardik Shrestha, Mr. Bishal Baral, Mr. Suresh Bhattarai respectively.

Photo 2: Team Nepal during a team parade at the 23rd International Astronomy Olympiad (XXIII IAO), October 6-14, 2018, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Top five students at the 5th NAO2018 participated at the 12th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics, Beijing, China, November 3-11, 2018. Though we could not receive any awards at this Olympiad, our students had their consistent performance. Team Nepal members were Mr. Shronim Tiwari, Capital College and Research Centre (CCRC), Kathmandu; Mr. Bedant Lohani, Rato Bangala School, Patan; Mr. Shubham Sharma, Budhanilkantha School, Kathmandu; Mr. Rubek Poudel, Arniko Higher Secondary School, Biratnagar, and Mr. Pratik Bhandari, The Times International College respectively.

Photo 3: Team Nepal during a team parade at the 12th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA2018), November 3-11, 2018, Beijing, China.

Photo 4: Team Nepal at the 12th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA2018), November 3-11, 2018, Beijing, China. From left: Ms. Manisha Dwa & Mr. Suresh Bhattarai (Front row), Mr. Bedant Lohani, Mr. Pratik Bhandari, Mr. Rubek Poudel, Mr. Shronim Tiwari and Mr. Shubham Sharma respectively.

National Astronomy Olympiad (NAO) program is an early talent hunt program for the high school students of age 14-20 years. It creates a merit list of the students qualified for the two international olympiads: International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA),  International Astronomy Olympiad (IAO) & regional olympiad: Asian-Pacific Astronomy Olympiad (APAO) respectively.

For more information about National Astronomy Olympiad (NAO) program in Nepal, please visit www.nepalastronomicalsociety.org/olympiad.

NASO at XXXth General Assembly of International Astronomical Union in August 2018!

Our participation at the XXX General Assembly of International Astronomical Union at Vienna, Austria during August 20-31, 2018 remained very successful with many developments!

Below are the highlights of our participation at the IAU2018 this year!

Observation of the IAU GA: 

Unlike last year, we took active observer role at the IAU election which helped us to understand the process of election and the procedure of the formalities. It also helped us to be informed about the new membership scheme at IAU: Junior membership for the fresh Ph.D. graduate. 

Photo: A Panel of newly appointed executives of IAU for the year 2018-2021.

Meeting with Newly Appointed President of IAU:

We had a quick meeting with the newly elected president of IAU Prof. Dr. Ewine F. van Dishoeck and was very impressed with her observation of our activities in Nepal. After the interaction with her, we found that though Nepal is not an institutional member at IAU and there is no individual member from Nepal, IAU has put special attention towards Nepal. We invited her to visit Nepal during her tenure. 

Photo: Mr. Suresh Bhattarai, Chairman at Ms. Manisha Dwa, project coordinator at NASO with Prof. Dr. Prof. Dr. Ewine F. van Dishoeck during at IAU GA2018.

Poster Presentation:

We had two posters during the second week of the meeting as a part of the Office of IAU Astronomy for Development (OAD) where we explained our activities to the audience. The posters help us to meet many people with similar interest and search for possible future collaborations.

Photo 3: Ms. Manisha Dwa, project coordinator at Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) with the visitor to her poster after the explanation. 

Photo 4: Mr. Suresh Bhattarai, Chairman at Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) during his poster presentation.

Meeting with Scientific Advisors: 

During the meeting, we had met with our scientific advisors Prof. Dr. Edward Guinan and Prof. Dr. Michele Gerbaldi and discussed/review the past activities and discuss future activities. Our discussion was mainly focused on the research projects/works for the university level students in Nepal.

Meeting with potential partners and collaborators:

During the meeting, we met many people and discussed the possibility of joint initiatives in the future. We had met with the representative from IAU100, IUCAA, IAU, OAD, OAO, Globe at Night, GTTP/GHOU, OAE (proposed) and researchers from different universities. 

Meeting at Nepali Embassy in Vienna:

We had pleasure meeting H.E. Mr. Prakash Kumar Suvedi, Ambassador for Embassy of Nepal in Vienna and Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations and other international organisations in Vienna, Austria.

Photo 5: Mr. Suresh Bhattarai, Chairman at Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) with H.E. Mr. Prakash Kumar Suvedi, Ambassador for Embassy of Nepal in Vienna and Permanent Mission of Nepal to United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna, Austria. Credit: Manisha Dwa/NASO

During the meeting, we discussed the need of Nepal's membership at United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUOS), International Astronomical Union (IAU) in order to foster space science and astronomy/astrophysics research activities in Nepal. We highlighted the importance of the memberships of these organizations to Nepal. H.E. explained that the membership procedure for the UNCOPUOS is in the positive direction and soon Nepal will be a member officially. He explained it is now much easier for the permanent mission to look into such opportunities after the mission office has been shifted from Gevena, Switzerland. 

We also had met with participants from Nepal: Mr. Jayanta Acharya-National Outreach Coordinator (NOC) at IAU Office of Astronomy for Outreach (OAO), Mr. Devendra Raj Upadhyay- Assistant Professor at Amrit Campus (ASCOL), Tribhuvan University(TU) and Mr. Bindesh Tripathi, undergraduate student at St. Xavier's College, Maitighar, Tribhuvan University (TU).

We would like to thank IAU officials for providing us the financial support for our successful participation. We would also like to thank Mr. Narayan Dhital, GNSS group lead at NASO currently working at DLR, Germany for the logistics!

Workshop in Astronomy & Astrophysics Research on February 27, 2018!

As a part of our new initiative 'Developing Astronomical Skills in Nepal' approved and partially supported by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), we in association with Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) are hosting a one day 'Workshop in Astronomy and Astrophysics Research' for 3rd Year students (preferably taking space science and interested to do projects in space science and astronomy/astrophysics in 4th Year) and B.Sc. 4th year students (preferably doing projects in astronomy/astrophysics or space science) of 4-Year B.Sc. program of Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu University and other universities of our Nation.

*** Click Here For Registration ***

Interested students are requested to complete their registrations by no later than Friday, February 23, 2018! The travel grant decision will be available by Sunday, February 25, 2018. 

*** Click Here For Registration ***

Registration fee is NRs. 100/- only. For registration, call Suresh Bhattarai at 9818734326. You can either pay the registration fee to of your faculty who shared this info to you or pay directly to us via Esewa (ID:9818734326) fund transfer with remarks: workshop registration fee!

Note: Limited partial/full travel grant is available for deserving students. Women are especially encouraged to apply!

The workshop will select 15 students who will be invited for a week long summer school in May-June 2018 to be held in Kathmandu (proposed).

*** Click Here For Registration ***

For any queries, please feel free to call/text us at 01-4110344 / 9818734326 or email us at contact@nepalastronomicalsociety.org .

5th National Astronomy Olympiad is accepting application till February 15, 2018!

One of the most exciting national science olympiads in Nepal will closes registration from the eligible students on February 15, 2018!

Interested and eligible student can download the application from via www.nepalastronomicalsociety.org/olympiad

• Regular Registration fee: 1,000/-
• Regular Deadline: Friday, February 9, 2018
• Late Registration fee: 1,100/- 
• Extended Deadline: Thursday, February 15, 2018

The pre-selection (first round) of the most awaited 5th National Astronomy Olympiad 2018 will be held on Saturday, February 17, 2018 at six different cities of Nepal! Dhangadi being the new addition to the list will provide an opportunity for the students in province 6 & 7 to join the competition.

Students from province one can appear for the examination in Biratnagar. We are hosting the exam in province 1 since 2014!

How to apply at NAO2018?

• Download Application Form and Handbook from www.nepalastronomicalsociety.org/olympiad
• Go through the handbook to know details of the program, model questions, syllabus, schedule, etc and most importantly contact details of our focal point in your region.
• Prepare your application carefully (DO NOT LEAVE THE MOTIVATION SECTION EMPTY).
• Visit one of the branches of Megha Bank Ltd. nearby you to deposit the application fee.
• Submit your complete application documents (application form, application fee payment bank deposit slip, copies of SEE marksheet and charecter certificate)

Want to know more? Watch our promotional video below or download NAO2018 Handbook from www.nepalastronomicalsociety.org/olympiad now!

What's new? Now you can collect your NAO2018 T-shirt with your registration fee! If you have already submitted the application but have not collected the T-shirt, contact our application center where you submitted your application. 

How to collect the T-shirt?

• Submit your application and tell our collection center your size: L or XL. You can receive your T-shirt on the same day or within a week depending on the collector center and availability of your data to our office in Kathmandu. 

Hurry up and submit your application today!

For more information: www.nepalastronomicalsociety.org/olympiad

Get Ready for the 5th National Astronomy Olympiad on February 17, 2018!

Following the great success of our previous versions of the olympiad in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017; the application for the 5th National Astronomy Olympiad was opened on December 10, 2017! This year, we will have exam centers at Biratagar, Chitwan, Kathmandu, Pokhara, Butwal and Dhangadi. We are adding one major cities each year so that students have better access to this program in Nepal.

***NAO2018 Application Form and Handbook from our website: www.nepalastronomicalsociety.org/olympiad ***

How to apply at NAO2018?

• Download Application Form and Handbook from www.nepalastronomicalsociety.org/olympiad
• Go through the handbook to know details of the program, model questions, syllabus, schedule, etc and most importantly contact details of our focal point in your region.
• Prepare your application (DO NOT LEAVE THE MOTIVATION SECTION EMPTY) carefully.
• Visit one of the branches of Megha Bank Ltd. nearby you to deposit the application fee.
• Submit your complete application documents (application form, application fee payment bank deposit slip, copies of SEE marksheet and charecter certificate)

 Currently Nepal has three National Science Olympiads: Physics, Astronomy & Mathematics that go to International Olympiads. You can get registration details about Physics and Mathematics Olympiads on their respective websites.

National Astronomy Olympiad started in 2014 and growing slowly providing a better opportunity to the participants to learn from each others during its closed camp sessions.

In December, orientation programs on astronomy olympiad program were held in Chitwan and Pokhara providing interested students to know more about the program in person.

Photo 1: Orientation program held on December 30, 2017 at Panaroma Institute, Hakimchowk, Baratpur, Chitwan

Photo 2: Orientation program held on December 31, 2017 at Quantum Leap, Mahendrapool, Pokhara, Kaski.

Students can visit any of the application centers listed in NAO2018 Handbook to get more information about the program.

***NAO2018 Application Form and Handbook from our website: www.nepalastronomicalsociety.org/olympiad ***

As a student need to deposit the application fee at Bank and include slip in the application, we strongly encourage interested students to complete their application before the deadline! 

Photo 3: NAO2018 T-shirt to each registered participants from Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO).

How to collect the T-shirt?

• Submit your application and tell our collection center your size: L or XL. You can receive your T-shirt on the same day or within a week depending on the collector center and availability of your data to our office in Kathmandu. 

A Decade of Astronomy & Space Science: Celebrating 10th Anniversary in Nepal

We celebrated our 10th Anniversary today with our volunteers, members and high students at Ankur Vidhyashram. The journey was definately not an easy one, but we learnt a lot through this decedal experience and look forward to implement our experience to create better opportunities for the youth and students in Nepal.

Mr. Pushpa Raj Sapkota, chief guest of the event  and principal at Ankur Vidhyashram praised our work engaging school students in our different activities and shared the improvement in their classroom behaviour. He also requested us to help students to guide them to their astronomy discussion forum that they are going to organized during October-November 2017.

Photo 1: Mr. Suresh Bhattarai, chairman at NASO sharing the major achievements with the participants of the gathering. (From left: Mr. Suresh Bhattarai, Mr. Pushpa Raj Sapkota, Mr. Samaya Khadka)

During the event, Mr. Samaya Khadka,one of the closed camp participants of our 4th National Astronomy Olympiad 2017 shared his experience at our astronomy olympiad to the students. He also explain the need of science communication with public and students to make science a fun.

National Astronomy Olympiad program was initiated in 2014 and become of the fastest growing talent hunt program in Nepal with its holistic approach to select students as a national winners!

Photo 2: Group photo of the participants of the gathering after the cake cutting ceremony

During the event, we also discussed on some of our proposed initiatives/programs and how we can make them more compatible to our students. We highlighted the need of more capacity building programs in coming days to strengthen our network in Nepal and abroad creating more opportunities for our youths and students.

Photo 3: Sudip Bhattrai, Assistant Professor, Aerospace at IOE, Pulchowk and Mr. Suresh Bhattarai, Chairman brainstroming on how we can improve our space programs in coming days

As we realised unless we train our students to build their confidence as well as skills we are not going to help for the development, we decided to partner with different academic institutions in Nepal and organizations in Nepal and abroad. We have already tested some of our academic partnership projects with engineering students at TU and we look forward to implement our program/s for physics students at TU in coming days.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to all our executives, members and well-wishers for their contribution to make this day a reality!

First Selection Round Result of 4th National Astronomy Olympiad 2017 is now available!

We are pleased to announce the result of the first selection round exam of 4th National Astronomy Olympiad 2017 which was held on Saturday, March 25, 2017. The selection exams were held at Itahari, Chitwan, Kathmandu, Pokhara and Butwal (new exam center).

Here is the press released issued today on the result. For more details, please feel free to visit www.nationalolympiad.org

Below is the list of selected students who will now go through pre-closed camp via online. During the pre-closed camp (second round), students will provided at least three assigments via online and the 20 best performers will be selected for the closed camp.

During the closed camp, students will be trainned on different aspects of astrophysics and tested. Among 20 stduents, top five will be announced as the winners of NASO2017 with highest scorer as an absolute winner of the year.

We would like to congratulate all the selected students for the second round and look forward to their best performaces!

If you have any queries related to our astronomy olympiad program, please feel free to visit www.nationalolympiad.org or call us at +977-1-4110344 (office).

Thank you!

Registration Open for "4th National Astronomy Olympiad 2017"!

Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) is pleased to announce application open for the 4th National Astronomy Olympiad 2017 (NAO2017) today! Students can submit their application till Wednesday, March 22, 2017! Please feel free to visit www.nationalolympiad.org for all the details.

NAO2017 will be held in Nepal during March-June, 2017. Students can visit our office in Kathmandu or meet our representatives (nearest) to submit their application forms.

Please note that the entrance exam will be held on Saturday, March 25, 2017 during during 12:00 PM- 2:00PM.

Please click here to download Handbook of 4th National Astronomy Olympiad 2017 (NAO2017). Application form is available here.

Students who are currently studying upto grade XII or recently graduated but has not joined any university program is eligible to apply. S/he must be less than 20 years on 30th June, 2017!

NAO2017 Logo desined by Mr. Samrat Rai, permanent resident of Sunsari, Nepal.

Where to apply?

Application form is available here: www.nepalastronomicalsociety.org/olympiad. We strongly encouage you to read the NAO2017:Handbook carefully while preparing your application and for the entrance exam.

You can submit the dully fill in and submit it to one of our collection centers as listed below:

How to apply for NAO2017?

• Collect Application Form from one of the places mentioned above or download from nepalastronomicalsociety.org/olympiad
• Deposit the application fee: NRs 1,000/- at our bank account. Below are the details of our bank account: 

Mega Bank Nepal Limited

A/C Name  : Nepal Astronomical Society   

A/C No.       : 001 001 027 9643 NPR

(while making deposit, please make sure you write your full name instead of your signature)

• Submit the duly filled application form, photocopies of SLC marksheet & character certificate and deposit slip at one of the centers
• Attend entrance exam. Details of the exam centers will be available prior to the selection exam.

Looking forward to welcome you one of the most awaited olympiad in the nation! 

Apply today! If you don't try, you will never know your potential. If you apply, you will get to realise who you are! 

For any queries, feel free to write us at our facebook page: www.fb.com/NepalAstronomicalSociety

We wish you all the best for your success! 

Pre-registration opens for 4th National Astronomy Olympiad 2017!

With the success of three National Astroonomy Olympiad in Nepal, we are please to announce the call for pre-registration to upcoming 4th National Astronomy Olympiad 2017! Click here for the pre-registration form!

PRE-REGISTRATION DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 15, 2017

What is National Astronomy Olympiad?

The National Astronomy Olympiad Program is a national educational program designed by Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) and ESPRO Foundation to encourage Nepalese students who pursue further studies in Physics, Maths, Astronomy & Space Science.

Who can participate in this olympiad?

Nepali students who is less than twenty years on June 30th of the year of the competition and have not enrolled at any university level program are eligible for the program.

There will be several screening before we announce top five ounstanding students of the year. Top five outstanding students will get an opportunity to attend International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics of the year.

For more details about this program, feel free to visit: www.nepalastronomicalsociety.org/olympiad

NASO 4th National Logo Competition 2017!

We are pleased to announce the 4th National Logo Competition 2017! Anyone interested in this competition can submit maximum of 3 designs till is January 21, 2017. Submission after the deadline will not be entertained.

The designer has to submit short description of each logo within 200 words (max.) and need to submit with the respective design to olympiad@nepalastronomicalsociety.org

For more details on rules and regulations, please feel free to read the information on the flyer below.

The best three logos will be awarded with cash prizes and certificates. Also, the first prize winner logo will be used as the logo of 4th National Astronomy Olympiad 2017.

This competition has been designed to provide an opportunity to more people to get involved with our olympiad program. It will also provide them platform to share their creativity which will get global audiance through our online presence.

In past, the competition remained very successful and we expect more quality inputs this year making us difficulties to choose the best logo among the submission!

For those of you who are planning to submit your work, ALL THE BEST!

Nepal Awarded Honorable Mention at 10th IOAA!

Team Nepal at 10th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA2016) awarded 'Honorable Mention' to Bijay Chandra Luitel. He was an absolute winner of 3rd National Astronomy Olympiad 2016 (NAO2016) was held during June 11 till August 31, 2016 in Nepal. 

IOAA2016 was held in Bhuwaneshwor, Odisha, India during December 9-19, 2016 where 234 students from 42 counrties participated for different awards. Team Nepal was formed with the top five scorers among 188 applicants from Biratnagar, Chitwan, Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara participated during our NAO2016. They were Bijaya Chandra Luitel and Divas Subedi from Chelsea International Academy, Nawaj KC from Trinity International College, Rabin Thapa from St. Xavier's College and Tarun Timalsina from Gandaki Higher Secondary Boarding School. Team Nepal was led by Suresh Bhattarai and Manisha Dwa as Team Leaders.

The International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) is an annual astronomy competition for high school students. It is one of the international science Olympiads. It has three rounds namely Theoretical Round, Data Analysis Round and Observational Round. It also has team competition round to strengthen team work within or among the teams of different countries.

Are you looking forward to our 4th National Astronomy Olympiad? Details will be available at www.nepalastronomicalsociety.org/olympiad soon!

Winners of 3rd NAO2016 participates at 10th IOAA in India!

The five winners of our 3rd National Astronomy Olympiad 2016 (NAO2016) will be participating in the 10th International Olympiad in Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) which will be held in Bhuwaneshwor, Odisha, India during December 9-19, 2016. There will be 238 students guided by 123 team leaders from 43 countries during the IOAA.

Top five students were selected through several screening stages during the Olympiad from 188 applicants from Biratnagar, Chitwan, Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara. NAO2016 was held during June 11 till August 31, 2016.

Team Nepal

S.N.	Name	Category	Institution
1	Suresh Bhattarai	Team Leader	Nepal Astronomical Society
2	Manisha Dwa	Team Leader	Nepal Astronomical Society
3	Bijaya Chandra Luitel	Student	Chelsea International Academy, New Baneshwor, Kathmandu
4	Divas Subedi	Student	Chelsea International Academy, New Baneshwor, Kathmandu
5	Nawaj KC	Student	Trinity International College, Dillibazaar, Kathmandu
6	Rabin Thapa	Student	St. Xavier's College, Maitighar, Kathmandu
7	Tarun Timalsina	Student	Gandaki Higher Secondary Boarding School, Lamachaur, Pokhara

National Astronomy Olympiad- Nepal is an educational competition where Nepalese students from Nepal/abroad studying upto class 12 and below 20 years can participate. Congratulations to our national winners and best wishes for their excellent peformance during the competition!

Congratulations to the Winners of NAO2016!

The wait is finally over!

We are pleased to announce the winners of our 3rd National Astronomy Olympiad 2016 that was held during June 7-August 31, 2016 in Nepal.

The top five students for NAO2016 are:

1. Bijay Luitel, Chelsea International Academy, New Baneshwor, Kathmandu
2. Divas Subedi, Chelsea International Academy, New Baneshwor, Kathmandu
3. Nawaj K.C., Trinity International College, Dillibazaar, Kathmandu
4. Robin Thapa, St. Xavier's College, Maitighar, Kathmandu
5. Tarun Timilsina, Gandaki Boarding School, Pokhara, Kaski

Selected students will be awarded with certificate and medals during a ceremony to be organized in Kathmandu.

This year, we will form two teams from 19 successful students ( see the list above) to participate in 12th Asian-Pacific Astronomy Olympiad to be held in Korea during November 17-25, 2016 and 10th International Olympiad in Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) to be held in India during December 9-19, 2016 respectively.

The selected two team members will undergo another training before their participation in the upcoming competitions: APAO (Regional) and IOAA (International).

We'll soon open the call for application for our '4th National Astronomy Olympiad 2017'!

Third National Astronomy Olympiad 2016 Closed Camp in August!

We are pleased to announce our Third National Astronomy Olympiad 2016 (NAO2016) Closed Camp during August 21-31, 2016! The closed camp will select the top five students as the winners of NAO2016!

Twenty-one students who managed to perform their best during our rigorous evaluation process such as selection exam, interviews and pre-closed camp will be a part of our closed camp session this year. Want to know those twenty-one students? Here you go:

Selected students represent eleven schools including seven schools in Kathmandu Valley, two schools in Chitwan and two schools in Kaski. 

During the closed camp, students will get first hand experience on working with astrophysical theories, problems and their solution. They will also learn data analysis and night sky observation techniques. 

This year, the practical sessions of the closed camp will be held at Everest Science Center Nepal (ESCN) located in near Biratnagar, Nepal. We beleive, it will help our students understand the current status of scienc and technology status and trend in the coutry. ESCN is the only science center in function at the moment which was established in 2001.

The National Astronomy Olympiad Program is a national educational program designed by Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) and ESPRO Foundation to encourage Nepalese students who pursue further studies in Physics, Maths, Astronomy & Space Science.

Want to know more about our olympiad program and it different stages that students will go through during our seletion process? Please feel free to visit: www.nepalastronomicalsociety.org/olympiad

Twenty-one students will participate in Closed Camp at 3rd National Astronomy Olympiad 2016 Nepal!

We are pleased to announce the twenty-one students who will participate in the upcoming closed camp program of Third National Astronomy Olympiad Nepal 2016 (NAO2016).

Selected students screened through different stages during First Selection Round and Pre-Closed Camp. Selected students represent total of 11 different colleges from three different cities of Nepal: Chitwan, Kathmandu and Pokhara!

Our First Selection Round evaluates student's basic theoritical background as well as movition and Pre-closed camp evaluates their creativity as well as some practical skills like writing, presentation, etc. 

During closed camp, they will learn different astophyisical concepts, problem solving techniques, team work as well as learn to navigate through the night sky using different astronomical tools. This round is the final round of our NAO2016 as we will be selecting top five students as the winners of NAO2016.

If you are looking for latest updates of our programs/activities, feel free to like our facebook page: www.fb.com/NepalAstronomicalSociety

National Astronomy Olympiad: New Application Deadline is June 7, 2016!

Due to the large number of requests from the sudents, we have extended the application deadline till 9:00 PM, TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016!

For details on the program and NAO2016 Handbook, please visit:

www.nepalastronomicalsociety.org/olympiad

Click Here to join us in our Event Page in Facebook for latest udapates!

For Application forms, contact us:

Kathmandu Valley – Nepal Astronomical Society (01-4110344)

Biratnagar- Mr. Gopal Niraula (9842369861 or 01-4110344)

Birgunj- Mr. Milan Rai (9845409422 or 01-4110344)

Chitwan- Mr. HC Regan Babu Bhatta (9855062676 or 01-4110344)

Pokhara- Mr. Sushant Dwa (9815152177 or 061-522220 or 01-4110344)

Syllabus (Entrance exam)

The syllabus for Entrance exam of National Astronomy Olympiad (NAO) is broadly equivalent to the senior secondary level (up to Class XII) of Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) Nepal. There will be greater emphasis on physics and mathematics and elementary astronomy.

• Mechanics: Newton’s Laws of Motion; Gravitation; Circular Motion; Rotational Motion; Simple Harmonic Motion
• Heat and Thermodynamics: Thermodynamic Equilibrium; Ideal Gas; Energy Transfer; Black Body Radiation
• Nuclear Physics: Atom; Hydrogen Spectrum; Nucleus and Radioactivity; X‐Rays
• Wave and Optics: Light; Interference, Diffraction, Polarization; Microwave, Infrared, Ultraviolet, Gamma Rays, Visible Wavelength Bands; Optical Instruments; Doppler’s Effect
• Electricity and Magnetism: Electromagnetic Theory; Magnetic Properties and Behavior
• The Sun: Solar Structure; Sun‐Earth Relation; Solar Wind and Radiation; Eclipse
• The Earth: Atmosphere; Longitude and Latitude; Tides; Seasons; Meteor Shower; Aurorae
• The Solar System: Earth‐Moon System; Planets introduction
• The Stars: Life Cycle; Neutron Star; Black Hole; Supernova; Constellation
• Universe: Galaxy; Dark Matter; Hubble’s law
• Space Exploration: Satellites; Human exploration and missions
• Mathematics: 3‐D figures (Sphere, Cone, Prism, Cylinder, Cuboid, Cube); 2‐D figures (Triangle,Quadrilateral, Circle)

Note: Above mentioned sections are as per the syllabus of HSEB, students are encouraged to explore reference materials.

The National Astronomy Olympiad Program is a national educational program designed by Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) and ESPRO Foundation to encourage Nepalese students who pursue further studies in Physics, Maths, Astronomy & Space Science.

National Astronomy Olympiad 2015: Pre-Registration Available NOW!

Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) announced call for pre-registration for the National Astronomy Olympiad 2015 today and will remain open until the announcement of selection examination details. We encouraged all the interested and eligible students for the pre-registration so that you will get an email about the details on the selection exams when available! 

Only Nepalese students born after January 1, 1996 and having studied upto higher secondary studies are eligible to apply for this program.If you are interested for the program and wish to participate, click here to APPLY NOW!

The National Astronomy Olympiad Program is a national educational program designed by Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) and ESPRO Foundation to encourage Nepalese students who pursue further studies in Physics,Maths,Astronomy & Space Science.

!All the interested & eligible students are encouraged to apply!
!If you have any queries regarding National Astronomy Olympiad Program or look forward to contribute, please feel free to contact us!

The registration will be accepted till April 17, 2015

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6 Days of Darkness during December 16-22, 2014 is another Internet Hoax!

As people are frightened by the hoax on six days of blackout during December 16-22, 2014, we are writing this blog to assure all the people that there will be no such dark week as claimed by the site www.huzlers.com.Huzlers.com which posted the news before which went viral via twitter and facebook! PLEASE NOTE THAT  this site claims to be a combination of real shocking news and satirical entertainment to keep its visitors in a state of disbelief. And the news about the blackout is surely became successful to keep people in the state of disbelief!!!

PLEASE BE SURE THAT THERE WILL BE NO WORLDWIDE BLACKOUT AS CLAIMED BY THE SITE!!! IT'S JUST AN ANOTHER INTERNET HOAX!!! ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE INFORMATION YOU GET FROM THE INTERNET IN ORDER TO GET REAL INFORMATION TO AVOID HOAX IN FUTURE!

Here's is the post that we stared our official facebook page this evening:

"केही दिनदेखि चर्चामा आइरहेको डिसेम्बर १६ देखि २२ सम्म पुरै विश्व अन्दकार हुने समाचार भ्रामक रहेको जानकारी गराउन चाहन्छौ ! नेपाली online मिडियाहरुले यस्तो संबेदनशील समाचारको सुष्म अध्ययन नगरी हचुवाको भरमा आम नेपाली जनतामा समाचार प्रसारण गरेकोमा हामी केहि दुखी भएका छौं ! खगोल, खगोल भौतिक बिज्ञान तथा अन्तरिक्ष बिज्ञान सम्बन्धि जानकारी को लागि हाम्रो ब्लग: http://astronomy-nepal.blogspot.com/ हेर्न नभुल्नु होला ! साथै यस सम्बन्धि कुनै पनि किसिमको जानकारी चाहिएमा हामीलाई सम्पर्क गर्नु होला!धन्यवाद !"

How did this hoax emerge?

The Sun of active these says and we have been observing greater sunspot at the sun's surface these days. Here's what we captured from Pokhara were you can see the spot which is of the size of Planet Jupiter! Normally the solar cycle is of 11 years and sun and generally becomes active around the edge of the ends. 

Photo 1: Sunspot which is of the size of Jupiter as captured from the beautiful city, Pokhara by Nepal Astronomical Society (NASO) to give an idea of how such is these days to the public. [Credit: Manisha Dwa ]

During the high activities in the sun, if some mass is ejected, it is called Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) which is of variation and may cause some damage to the spacecrafts and satellite that are orbiting our planet earth. If CME is so dense/hard, then it can be reach to our atmosphere and may inter in our power grid which may damage your electronics.

If you are interested in solar physics, please watch this video produced by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center:

THERE IS NO SPACE DEBRIS REPORTED THAT WILL BLOCK THE SUN FROM US WHICH WILL CREATE THE BLACKOUT AS WE ARE HEARING after the hoax getting viral!

As many of the nepali online media just copied and share this hoax without looking at the panic that it may produced in the society, hundreds of people have contacted us with the fear of darkness, we decided to release this blog post and the facebook post about it!

Here's the video news from the Cosmos News about the hoax released on October 25, 2014 on www.youtube.com :

If you want to explore the fact in other websites, please feel free to visit these links below:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Nasas-six-days-of-total-darkness-in-December-2014-is-a-hoax/articleshow/44963012.cms
http://www.ibtimes.co.in/hoax-busted-nasa-confirms-earth-will-experience-6-days-total-darkness-december-fake-612353
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/10/27/days-of-darkness-hoax-nasa_n_6052614.html
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1050964-6-days-of-darkness-on-earth-3-days-in-december-2014-confirmed-by-nasa-are-viral-hoaxes/

Spread this information to people around you so that they can be sure that nothing will happen :)