British Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad

The British Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad (BAAO), run by the British Physics Olympiad, is the UK astronomy olympiad pathway. This archive includes Astro Round 2 past question papers and marking schemes published by BPhO.

2026

Round 2 180 min → Round 2 Problems

Problem 1

Poynting Into a Star Round 2

Problem 2

Seeing the First Stars Round 2

Problem 3

Television Satellite Round 2

2025

Round 2 180 min → Round 2 Problems Round 2 Solutions

Problem 1 (30 pts)

Gravity Train Round 2

Problem 2 (40 pts)

The Fate of the Earth Round 2

Problem 3 (30 pts)

Gravitational Microlensing Round 2

2024

Round 2 180 min → Round 2 Problems Round 2 Solutions

Problem 1 (35 pts)

Maximum Payload to Mars Round 2

Problem 2 (30 pts)

Discworld Astrophysics Round 2

Problem 3 (35 pts)

Heat Transfer in the Sun Round 2

2023

Round 2 180 min → Round 2 Problems Round 2 Solutions

Problem 1 (35 pts)

Solar Analemma Round 2

Problem 2 (40 pts)

Wolf-Rayet Dust Shells Round 2

Problem 3 (25 pts)

Planetary Migration in Protoplanetary Disks Round 2

2022

Round 2 180 min → Round 2 Problems Round 2 Solutions

Problem 1 (30 pts)

Sunrise in Oxford Round 2

Problem 2 (35 pts)

Stellar Structure Round 2

Problem 3 (35 pts)

James Webb Space Telescope Round 2

2021

Round 2 180 min → Round 2 Problems Round 2 Solutions

Problem 1 (25 pts)

Mercury's Rotation Period with Aricebo Round 2

Problem 2 (35 pts)

Great Conjuctions and the Star of Bethlehem Round 2

Problem 3 (40 pts)

High Resolution Stellar Photos Round 2

2020

Round 2 180 min → Round 2 Problems Round 2 Solutions

Problem 1 (35 pts)

Apollo 11 Round 2

Problem 2 (35 pts)

Event Horizon Telescope and Super Massive Black Holes Round 2

Problem 3 (30 pts)

Inspirals of Exoplanets Near Tidal Destruction Round 2

2019

Round 2 180 min → Round 2 Problems Round 2 Solutions

Problem 1 (25 pts)

Parker Solar Probe Round 2

Problem 2 (25 pts)

360 Days in a Year Round 2

Problem 3 (25 pts)

Stellar Mass Limits Round 2

Problem 4 (25 pts)

Superluminal Jets Round 2

2018

Round 2 180 min → Round 2 Problems Round 2 Solutions

Problem 1 (25 pts)

Stellar Mass Loss Round 2

Problem 2 (25 pts)

Multi-Messenger Astronomy Round 2

Problem 3 (25 pts)

Great American Eclipse Round 2

Problem 4 (25 pts)

Super-Earths and Planet Nine Round 2

2017

Round 2 180 min → Round 2 Problems Round 2 Solutions

Problem 1 (20 pts)

Martian GPS Round 2

Problem 2 (20 pts)

Hohmann Transfer Orbits Round 2

Problem 3 (20 pts)

Starkiller Base Round 2

Problem 4 (20 pts)

Hanny's Voorwerp Round 2

Problem 5 (20 pts)

Imaging an Exoplanet Round 2

2016

Round 2 180 min → Round 2 Problems Round 2 Solutions

Problem 1

Asteroid Belt Round 2

Problem 2

Supermoons Round 2

Problem 3

Interstellar Round 2

Problem 4

Dyson structures Round 2

Problem 5

Gravitational lensing Round 2

2015

Main 60 min → Main Problems Main Solutions Trial 60 min → Trial Problems Trial Solutions