National Current Affairs
18th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics
- 13 Aug 2025
- 3 min read
Why in News?
The 18th International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) is being held at Mumbai, India, from 11th to 21st August 2025.
- This is the second time that India is hosting the IOAA, after the 2016 edition in Bhubaneswar.
Key Points
- About: The IOAA is an annual competition for secondary school students (Classes 10 to 12), featuring a rigorous selection process to qualify for the international level.
- The IOAA was conceived in 2006 to address the increasing global interest in astronomy among high school students, with its first edition held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2007.
- Organiser: The event is organised by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE), an autonomous institution under the umbrella of the Department of Atomic Energy.
- It is also supported by the Government of India through its Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) via the Vigyan Pratibha Project of HBCSE.
- Theme of the Olympiad: The theme for this year's event is ‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’, reflecting the ancient Indian idea that “the world is one family under the one sky”.
- Logo: The IOAA 2025 logo features the Gateway of India, a GSLV rocket representing India’s lunar mission, a spider symbolizing telescopes in the letter “O”, tri-coloured comets above the Gateway, and a colour scheme inspired by the Milky Way galaxy.
- Participants: The Olympiad has attracted over 300 high school students from 64 countries. During the event, students participate in several challenging exams covering theoretical, observational, and data analysis aspects of astronomy.
Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE)
- HBCSE is a National Centre of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, which is a Deemed University in Mumbai.
- HBCSE is the nodal centre of Olympiad programmes in mathematics, physics, astronomy, chemistry, and biology.
- Another important programme of HBCSE is the National Initiative on Undergraduate Science (NIUS), concerning tertiary science education in India.
Astronomy
- Astronomy is the science that studies celestial objects such as stars, planets, comets, galaxies, and the universe as a whole.
Astrophysics
- Astrophysics is a branch of astronomy that uses the principles and laws of physics (such as gravity, thermodynamics), to understand and explain the physical processes that govern how celestial objects behave, form, and evolve.