19th Apex Astro-Olympiad qualifying round held at BAU

The 19th APEX Astro-Olympiad, organised nationwide by the Bangladesh Astronomical Association, has successfully held a qualifying round in the Mymensingh division. Sixty individuals passed from four districts within the division.

The competition occurred at the Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin Auditorium, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), on Sunday, July 7, at 10 am.

The programme started with the national anthem and flag hoisting. After that, a 100-mark test on Astronomy was taken. Then the competitors made paper rockets. Around 110 students from Sherpur, Netrakona, Jamalpur, and Mymensingh in Junior (14 to 15 years, school level) and Senior (16 to 18, College level) categories participated in the competition. At the end of the competition, 20 students from the senior category and 40 from the junior category were selected and awarded.

Bangladesh Astronomical Association Chairman, Moshrul Amin, Professor Kazi Shek Farid of BAU Rural Sociology Department of BAU, and central organiser Tanzila Ritu were present at the prize distribution ceremony conducted by Jaber Islam, president of 'Biggan Charcha Kendra' of the BAU branch.

Moshrul Amin stated that the main objective of the Astro-Olympiad is to spark interest in space among the young generation across the country. The International Astronomy Olympiad will take place in Bangladesh this year, with students from around 40 to 50 countries participating.

The national round will be held in Dhaka on August 3 with the students who have passed the qualifying round. The residential camp and final selection phase will be held from August 21 to August 28 with 30 people, including 15 people from the senior group and 15 people from the junior group in the national phase. Five contestants selected from the residential camp will represent Bangladesh in the upcoming 28th International Astro-Olympiad.