Yesterday, on October 13, the solemn opening of the International Astronomy Olympiad took place at the National Philharmonic named after T. Satylganov. Young astronomers from more than 20 countries around the world are participating: Thailand, Bulgaria, Armenia, Czech Republic, Ukraine, India, Korea, Italy, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation, Estonia, Romania, Canada, Sweden, Pakistan, Iran, Canada, and the team from Moscow.
“The study of astronomy has always been relevant, especially now in the 21st century during the era of active space exploration and the pursuit of new frontiers in astrophysical knowledge,” said the Minister of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic, K. Sadykov.
He also emphasized that the students of the Republican Engineering and Technical Academy "Altyn Tuyun" have repeatedly become winners and prizewinners of major international competitions, and just yesterday the team of astronomers returned from Kazakhstan, having taken second place.
The Olympiad will take place from October 14 to 21 in the city of Cholpon-Ata. The solemn closing of the Olympiad and the awarding of the winners will be held on October 20, 2014, at 3:00 PM at the "Kyrgyz Sea" sanatorium.
The young astronomers of Kyrgyzstan will pass the right to host the XX International Astronomy Olympiad for Schoolchildren to representatives of the country, the name of which will be announced in the concluding part of the event.
In addition to the competitive part, the program of the event includes introducing the participants of the Olympiad to the culture and history of Kyrgyzstan. The participants will visit museums in the cities of Bishkek and Cholpon-Ata, the Semenov Gorge, as well as take a boat trip on Lake Issyk-Kul, get acquainted with the artistic amateur activities of the Issyk-Kul region in the ethnic complex "Rukh Ordo," and also learn about Kyrgyz traditions and dishes of the national cuisine.
