There are two types of competitions conducted by the ASDRC. Two groups of competitors are tested by them. First is Dharmaraja College students. Students in grade 6 and above are tested and rated periodically to keep the standards of their knowledge. The idea beind that is promoting the knowledge as well as building a strong senior Astronomy quiz team to compete in national level quiz competitions representing the school. Second type of competitions are targeted for the countrywide, below college level students.

Having in mind their prorities, ASDRC conducts the ”Astro Olympiad” all-island inter school astronomy quiz competition and all-island inter school observation competition to enhance healthy competition between other schools in Sri Lanka.Quiz competition was first organized in year 2002 and is one of the oldest Astronomy quizzes in Sri Lanka. Usually this competition consists of a written preliminary round, 2 semi finals and a grand final. Both semifinals and final are oral. Preliminary round is divided into 5 sub sections as Cosmology and Astrophysics, General Astronomy, Rocketry and Space Science, History of astronomy and Archaeoastronomy and Observational astronomy. Best four teams selected from this round are taken into the semi finals and teams selected from them to the grand final. Winning team at the final is awarded the ”Astro Olympiad” challenge shield.

Observation competition was initiated in year 2006 and marked the beginning of 2nd sky observation competiion in Sri Lanka. It usually consists of 4 or 5 sky observation tasks depending on the visibility and availability of the objects. Usually competing teams get Lunar Sketching, Jupiter Obsevation, Saturn Obsevation, Mars Obsevation, Constellation Mapping and Deep Sky Obsevation as for their tasks. The best team at these tasks get the ASDRC obsevation shield.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Astronomical Society of Dharmaraja College (ASDRC), under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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Dr. Gehrels is currently the Chief of the Astroparticle Physics Laboratory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. He is the Principal Investigator for the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission. Other responsibilities include: Project Scientist for the Compton Observatory (1991-2000), Mission Scientist for Mission INTEGRAL Deputy Project Scientist for the Fermi mission and Project Scientist for JDEM. He is also an adjunct professor of astronomy at the University of Maryland and of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Neil Gehrels, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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Lichtenberg was the first Payload Specialist. He flew on Spacelab-1 (STS-9) mission for ten days in 1983, conducted multiple experiments in life sciences, materials sciences, Earth observations, astronomy and solar physics, upper atmosphere and plasma physics. His second flight was ATLAS-1 (STS-45) Spacelab mission for nine days in 1992; conducted 13 experiments in Atmospheric sciences and astronomy. He flew 310 orbits, and logged 468 hours in space.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Byron K. Lichtenberg, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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Laird A. Thompson (born 6 September 1947), is a professor of astronomy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Thompson graduated with a B.A. in both physics and astronomy from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1969. He received his Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Arizona in 1974.

He is professionally associated with the International Astronomical Union, the American Astronomical Society, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the International Society for Optical Engineering, and has served as an adjunct member of the Center for Adaptive Optics.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Laird A. Thompson, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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reflecting telescope (also called a reflector) is an optical telescope which uses a single or combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century as an alternative to the refracting telescope which, at that time, was a design that suffered from severe chromatic aberration. Although reflecting telescopes produce other types of optical aberrations, it is a design that allows for very large diameter objectives. Almost all of the major telescopes used in astronomy research are reflectors. Reflecting telescopes come in many design variations and may employ extra optical elements to improve image quality or place the image in a mechanically advantageous position. Since reflecting telescopes use mirrors, the design is sometimes referred to as a “catoptric” telescope.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Reflecting telescope, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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Leuschner Observatory, originally called the Students’ Observatory, is an observatory operated by the University of California, Berkeley. The observatory was built in 1886 on the Berkeley campus. For many years, it was directed by Armin Otto Leuschner, for whom the observatory was renamed in 1951. In 1965, it was relocated to its present home in Lafayette, California, approximately 10 miles east of the Berkeley campus.

Presently, Leuschner Observatory has two operating telescopes. One is a 30-inch optical telescope, equipped with a CCD for observations in visible light and an infrared detector used for infrared astronomy. The other is a 4-meter radio dish used for an undergraduate radio astronomy course. The observatory has been used to perform professional astronomy research, such as orbit determination of small solar system bodies in the early 1900s, and supernova surveys in the 1980s and 1990s. It has also served as a primary tool in the education of graduate and undergraduate students at UC Berkeley.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Leuschner Observatory, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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Opening in 1964, the Burke Baker Planetarium presents a range of science and astronomy shows. The planetarium is equipped with the SkySkan DigitalSky starfield projector that can simulate stars, planets, comets, nebulous objects and other special effects. in 1998, it was upgraded to fullview, making it the first in the U.S. (and third in the world) to have multiple projector digital image capability. That allows it to show fulldome movies about space science and also on earth science, life science and other topics, many of which were created by HMNS staff, featuring music by Shai Fishman, recorded and produced at Fish-i Studios – http://www.fish-i.com. A digital stereo sound system also enhances planetarium’s special effects. Its outreach program “Discovery Dome” takes the planetarium experience on the road, reaching over 40,000 students per year in classrooms and special events in portable digital domes.

Cockrell Butterfly Center, a butterfly zoo located in museum complex. Opening in 1994, the center is housed in a three-story glass building filled with tropical plants and butterflies. The center exhibits a large range of live butterflies, including the migratory monarchs and their tropical cousins. The CBC was reopened in May 2007 after being overhauled to make the exhibit more interactive; there are now games for children and a live insect zoo in the Brown Hall of Entomology.

Wortham IMAX Theatre, a 396-seat theater presenting various films photographed in the IMAX format. The HMNS IMAX has been upgraded to play 3D films on its 60×80 foot screen.

George Observatory, an astronomy observatory equipped with three domed telescopes, including a Gueymard Research Telescope and a solar telescope. The facility is located south of Sugar Land, Texas at Brazos Bend State Park. The observatory also houses the Challenger Learning Center for Space Science Education.

The HMNS Woodlands X-Ploration Station opened in March 2007 in The Woodlands Mall. It is especially family-oriented, and expands the downtown location’s educational goals to the suburbs. It houses quite a few exhibits in its halls: dinosaurs, fluorescent minerals and Geopalooza (originally at the downtown location), an insect and arachnid zoo, portions of the Fondren Discovery Center, and the Dig Pit. This location also offers the programs set up by HMNS downtown for members of the Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of the USA, as well as outreach to local schools.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Houston Museum of Natural Science, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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filter, while the latter category, that of interference or dichroic filters, can be quite complex. Optical filters selectively transmits light having certain properties (often, a particular range of wavelengths, that is, range of colours of light), while blocking the remainder. They are commonly used in photography, in many optical instruments, and to colour stage lighting. In astronomy, optical filters can be used to eliminate light from the Sun or from a star much brighter than the target object. Even seeing Mercury can necessitate using optical filters from extreme northern latitudes like Scandinavia or Alaska where the sky is invariably bright whenever the planet is above the horizon due to the low angle at far elongations.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Filter (optics), under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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Neo-Babylonian astronomy refers to the astronomy developed by Chaldean astronomers during the Neo-Babylonian, Achaemenid, Seleucid, and Parthian periods of Mesopotamian history. A significant increase in the quality and frequency of Babylonian observations appeared during the reign of Nabonassar (747–734 BC), who founded the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The systematic records of ominous phenomena in astronomical diaries that began at this time allowed for the discovery of a repeating 18-year Saros cycle of lunar eclipses, for example. The Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy later used Nabonassar’s reign to fix the beginning of an era, since he felt that the earliest usable observations began at this time.

The last stages in the development of Babylonian astronomy took place during the time of the Seleucid Empire (323–60 BC). In the third century BC, astronomers began to use “goal-year texts” to predict the motions of the planets. These texts compiled records of past observations to find repeating occurrences of ominous phenomena for each planet. About the same time, or shortly afterwards, astronomers created mathematical models that allowed them to predict these phenomena directly, without consulting past records.

Empirical astronomy

Though there is a lack of surviving material on Babylonian planetary theory, it appears most of the Chaldean astronomers were concerned mainly with ephemerides and not with theory. Most of the predictive Babylonian planetary models that have survived were usually strictly empirical and arithmetical, and usually did not involv

In contrast to Greek astronomy which was dependent upon cosmology, Babylonian astronomy was independent from cosmology. Whereas Greek astronomers expressed “prejudice in favor of circles or spheres rotating with uniform motion”, such a preference did not exist for Babylonian astronomers, for whom uniform circular motion was never a requirement for planetary orbits. There is no evidence that the celestial bodies moved in uniform circular motion, or along celestial spheres, in Babylonian astronomy.

Contributions made by the Chaldean astronomers during this period include the discovery of eclipse cycles and saros cycles, and many accurate astronomical observations. For example, they observed that the Sun’s motion along the ecliptic was not uniform, though they were unaware of why this was; it is today known that this is due to the Earth moving in an elliptic orbit around the Sun, with the Earth moving swifter when it is nearer to the Sun at perihelion and moving slower when it is farther away at aphelion.

Chaldean astronomers known to have followed this model include Naburimannu (fl. 6th–3rd century BC), Kidinnu (d. 330 BC), Berossus (3rd century BCE), and Sudines (fl. 240 BCE). They are known to have had a significant influence on the Greek astronomer Hipparchus and the Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy, as well as other Hellenistic astronomers.

Heliocentric astronomy

The only surviving planetary model from among the Chaldean astronomers is that of Seleucus of Seleucia (b. 190 BC), who supported Aristarchus of Samos’ heliocentric model. Seleucus is known from the writings of Plutarch, Aetius, Strabo, and Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi. Strabo lists Seleucus as one of the four most influential Chaldean/Babylonian astronomers, alongside Kidenas (Kidinnu), Naburianos (Naburimannu), and Sudines. Their works were originally written in the Akkadian language and later translated into Greek. Seleucus, however, was unique among them in that he was the only one known to have supported the heliocentric theory of planetary motion proposed by Aristarchus, where the Earth rotated around its own axis which in turn revolved around the Sun. According to Plutarch, Seleucus even proved the heliocentric system through reasoning, though it is not known what arguments he used.

According to Lucio Russo, his arguments were probably related to the phenomenon of tides. Seleucus correctly theorized that tides were caused by the Moon, although he believed that the interaction was mediated by the Earth’s atmosphere. He noted that the tides varied in time and strength in different parts of the world. According to Strabo (1.1.9), Seleucus was the first to state that the tides are due to the attraction of the Moon, and that the height of the tides depends on the Moon’s position relative to the Sun.

According to Bartel Leendert van der Waerden, Seleucus may have proved the heliocentric theory by determining the constants of a geometric model for the heliocentric theory and by developing methods to compute planetary positions using this model. He may have used trigonometric methods that were available in his time, as he was a contemporary of Hipparchus.

None of his original writings or Greek translations have survived, though a fragment of his work has survived only in Arabic translation, which was later referred to by the Persian philosopher Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi (865-925).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Babylonian astronomy, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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Major branches of natural philosophy include astronomy and cosmology, the study of nature on the grand scale; etiology, the study of (intrinsic and sometimes extrinsic) causes; the study of chance, probability and randomness; the study of elements; the study of the infinite and the unlimited (virtual or actual); the study of matter; mechanics, the study of translation of motion and change; the study of nature or the various sources of actions; the study of natural qualities; the study of physical quantities; the study of relations between physical entities; and the philosophy of space and time. (Adler, 1993)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article Natural philosophy, under the G. N. U. Free Documentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

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