Quiztronomy 2009 - report

Date: 7 Feb, 2009
Venue: COEP Auditorium
Conducted by: Aadinath Harihar and Mohit Karve
Set by: Members of the COEP Astronomy Club and BCQC
Flavour: Astronomy
Turnout: ~75 teams

Final Results
1st: Yash Marathe (Modern) + Suvajit Chakraborty (Symbiosis Law) (E): 95
2nd: Dawood + Gaurang (IUCAA) (B): 90* (better elims score than C)
3rd: Swapnil + Omkar (SKNCOE) (D): 90
4th: Kaustubh + Karan (COEP) (A): 60
5th: D. Mithilesh + S.P.Gautham (DAV Public School) (E): 50
6th: Sanket + Chaitanya (SIT Lonavla) (F): 10

(Scores thanks to Yash Marathe)

Report
Organised in the International Year of Astronomy, the aim of this first-ever astronomy quiz by the COEP Astronomy Club was to popularise the world of astronomy among students through a quiz that would be interesting even to the non-enthusiast. In this, the quiz was quite a success.

An excellent turnout (though the organisers said they expected even more!) attempted a very interesting set of preliminary questions that were only somewhat blighted in the audio-visual questions by a mix of incorrect and disappearing pictures! The finals saw a mix of participants: a team of Ph.D students, a school team, a team from Lonavala, the usual crop of engineering aspirants, and a suited-booted-lawyer-to-be.

This was my first quiz in the fully-furnished COEP audi with all bells and whistles running, and finally, the college has a comfortable place to hold events in. The organisation was smooth, greased by a large team of volunteers. There was a small solo general quiz during the break between prelims and finals, with winners in four categories (Parents-Teachers, School, Jr. College, and Senior College).

Not that there weren't a few criticisms, largely stemming from some slides being packed dense with text - these could have easily been condensed. But largely, the finals were interesting, and balanced between the demands of a niche topic and the needs of making it appealing. The long connect at the end was quite good as well. A large number of prizes were given away: to schools and to participants (even those who just missed out on qualifying).

The organisers plan to return next year with another edition of this quiz, and it should be well worth looking forward to.