IAAC_Qualification_Round_2024 solution

From: Truong Gia Binh – 11 Grade – Vietnam

Problem 1
A. Canopus
B. Archernar
C. Large Magellanic Cloud
D. Small Magellanic Cloud
E. Carina Nebula
F. Southern Cross or Crux
G. Omega Centauri
H. Alpha Centauri or The Pointer

Problem 2
The total number of stars in the Milky Way is about 392.7 billion stars.
First let's calculate the volume of the cylindrical Milky Way:
radius^2 × π × height = (100000/2)^2 × π × 1000 ≈ 7.853981 × 1012 (light-year)^3
The total number of stars is the multiply of the volume of the Milky Way and the density of stars in the
Milky Way: 7.854 × 1012 × 0.05 ≈ 3.927 × 1011 stars
So the number of stars in the Milky Way is 3.926990817 × 1011 stars

Problem 3
a)
According to formula: g= GM/R2
with
G is gravitational constant
M is mass of the Earth
R is the distance from the object to the Earth

At the surface of the earth, the gravitational acceleration g is:

g0= GM/R2
On the ISS, the gravitational acceleration g is
gz=GM/(R+z)2

So the decrease in acceleration is g0 – gz => percentage gravitational acceleration decreases or

P(z) would be equal to ratio of decrease in acceleation and the gravitional acceleration on Earth’s
surface or g0.
𝐺𝑀 2 2
2
𝑔0 − 𝑔𝑧 𝑔𝑧 (𝑅 + 𝑧) 2 𝑅 1 1
𝑃(𝑧) = =1− = 1− = 1− =1−( ) =1−( 𝑧)
𝑔0 𝑔0 𝐺𝑀 (𝑅 + 𝑧)2 𝑅+𝑧 1 +
𝑅2 𝑅 𝑅

b)
We have R or radius of the Earth is 6731 km, z is the altitude of the ISS and it is 410 km
Substitute into the equation P(Z)
2
1
𝑃(410) = 1 − ( ) ≈ 0.117
410
1 + 6371

So P(z) for the altitude of the ISS is approximately 11.7%

Astronauts on the ISS feel weightless because objects in orbit around Earth include them are
in a constant state of "free fall." That is, they are still pulled toward Earth due to Earth's gravity,
but they do not ever fall to Earth's surface due to the sideways component of the orbital path.
Since they do not experience the force of Earth's surface pushing upward as we do when we
stand on the ground, astronauts on the ISS in Earth's orbit experience weightlessness

c) If the grav. acceleration become only 1% of the Earth’s surface => the ratio between gz
and g0 is 1% => gz/g0 = 0.01
𝐺𝑀
𝑔𝑧 (𝑅 + 𝑧)2 𝑅 2 𝑅
= 0.01 => = 0.01 => ( ) = 0.01 => = 0.1 => 𝑅 + 𝑧 = 10𝑅
𝑔0 𝐺𝑀 𝑅+𝑧 𝑅+𝑧
𝑅2
=> 𝑧 = 9𝑅 = 9.6371 = 57339 (𝑘𝑚)

Problem 4
Let A is the center of a cirle with a radius of 6371 km, which represents the Earth, B is the ISS,
so AB = 6371+410= 6781 km
̂, with CB ⊥
a) θ is the field of view angle from the ISS, so it would equal to the angle CBD
AC and BD ⊥ AD
̂ = CBD
CBD ̂ + CBA ̂ = 2CBA
̂
̂ = AC =
Having that cos CBA
radius of the Earth 6371 6371
= 6371+410 = 6781
AD distance from the center of the Earth to the ISS
̂ = sin-1 (6371)
=> CBA 6781
̂ = 2 sin-1 (6371) ≈ 140°
̂ = 2CBA
=> CBD 6781
So θ ≈ 40°

b) To find the total distance visible, we need to calculate the circumference of the circle
formed by the visible portion of Earth from the ISS.
̂
𝐶𝐵𝐷
̂ = 2𝐶𝐴𝐵
𝐶𝐴𝐷 ̂ = 2 (90° − 𝐶𝐵𝐴
̂ ) = 2 (90° − ) ≈ 40°
2
Distance visible S is equal to the length of the arc CD.
̂
𝐶𝐴𝐷 40
So 𝑆 = 𝐸𝑎𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟 × (360°) ≈ 2𝜋 6371 × 360
≈ 4448 (𝑘𝑚)

c) Let A is the Earth Surface area that the astronaut from the ISS can see.
We have the formula to calculate the Spherical Segment of a sphere is 𝐴 = 2𝜋𝑅ℎ
The Earth’s surface area is 4𝜋𝑅 2
 The percentage that the astronauts can see is
2𝜋𝑅ℎ ℎ
𝑆% = × 100% = × 100% (1)
4𝜋𝑅 2 2𝑅
With R is the radius of the sphere, h is the altitude of the spherical segment is the
perpendicular distance between the bases
By draw a little more on the figure above, we can visualize the formula 𝐴 = 2𝜋𝑅ℎ to
apply it to solve this problem.
 According to this figure h is equal to HG, and R is 6371 km, which is equivalent to AC
and AD
𝐴𝐶
𝐻𝐺 = 𝐴𝐺 − 𝐴𝐻 = 6371 − 𝐴𝐶 cos 𝐶𝐴𝐵 ̂ = 6731 − 6731 ×
𝐴𝐵
6371
= 6371 × (1 − ) ≈ 407 𝑘𝑚
6781
Subsitute HG as h into equation (1)
ℎ 407
𝑆% = × 100% ≈ × 100% ≈ 3%
2𝑅 2 × 6731

Therefore a) the field of view angle is approximately 140°,

b) total distance visible is about 4448 km
c) the percentage of Earth's surface visible is approximately 3%.

Problem 5
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is leftover radiation from the Big Bang or the
time when the universe began
The CMB radiation was discovered by chance in 1965 when Penzias and Wilson, two
radio astronomers in the United States, registered a signal in their radio telescope that could
not be attributed to any precise source in the sky. It apparently came from everywhere with
the same intensity, day or night, summer or winter. Then, they concluded that the signal had
to come from outside our Galaxy. It came almost from the origin of the Universe.