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Brazilian students awarded diplomas at international astronomy olympiad

For physicist Gustavo Rojas, on his fourth time as team leader in the
Maiana Diniz reports from Agência Brasil
Published on 06/08/2015 - 09:52
Brasília
equipe brasileira astronomia
© Divulgação/OBA
equipe brasileira astronomia

Brazil's team at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics Divulgação/OBA

Four Brazilian high school students won honorable mentions for strong individual achievement at the 9th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics in Magelang, Indonesia.

The diplomas were awarded to Carolina Guimarães from Vitória, Espírito Santo, the only state-run school student and the only girl in Brazil's delegation; Felipe Barscevicius, from Sorocaba, São Paulo; João Paulo Paiva, from Curitiba, Paraná; and Yassin Khalil, from Primavera do Leste, Mato Grosso, all three private school students.

Contestants were tested both individually through exams on theory, observation, and data analysis, and as teams. A total 45 teams from 41 countries joined the competition, held in the period July 26-August 4.

“It's been the most amazing experience, joining an international Olympiad has always been a dream ambition. I've been competing at the Brazilian Astronomy and Astronautics Olympiad ever since I was eight,” Carolina said on arrival in São Paulo on Wednesday night (Aug. 5). She is 18 years old and studies at the Federal Education Institute of Espírito Santo. Carolina said she has always been a keen reader on the subject, but started studying especially harder last year after qualifying for the Latin American Astronomy and Astronautics Olympiad.

Pedro Henrique Dias, from Porto Alegre, and team leaders Eugenio Reis, from the Museum of Astronomy and Related Sciences, in Rio de Janeiro, and Gustavo Rojas, of the Federal University of São Carlos, also joined the Brazilian team, which ranked 20th at the team competition.

Physicist Gustavo Rojas, on his fourth time as team leader at the competition, celebrated the result and pointed out that less than half of the countries won honorable mentions, a diploma awarded to contestants accumulating over 50% of the total mark at individual tests. His favorite challenge in this year's competition was building a telescope. “Students received a kit with parts to build a low-cost telescope. They had to build it for use at the observation task to look at the Moon geography.”

The next edition of the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics will take place in India in December 2016.


Translated by Mayra Borges


Fonte: Brazilian students awarded diplomas at international astronomy olympiad