USAAAO 2025, I кръг — Задача 22
USAAAO 2025 - First Round · 8 февруари 2025 г.
Внимание: Бележка към темата
All 30 separately numbered original first-round multiple-choice questions and their matching official explanations/answer letters are retained. The printed explanations for Questions 2 and 3 stop before a promised formula; Question 26 refers to a following triangle absent from its native solution page. No missing expression or diagram is reconstructed. Native scientific discrepancies and ambiguous formula notation remain literal and are explicitly attributed in local source notes. A separate two-page common USAAAO archive constants/reference table is included with its own source identity; it is undated in the catalogue, and its use as the exact 2025 attachment is not established. No separate dated instructions, answer sheet or constants companion is present in the 2025 archive folder. No point total or time limit is printed in these two exam booklets.
Original first-round date and writers
USAAAO 2025 - First Round
February 8th, 2025
Writers: Abhay Bestrapalli, Sidhant Chaliha, Ferdinand, Ved Gund, Hagan Hensley, Yehong Jiang, Alexander Li, Joe McCarty, Lucas Carrit Delgado Pinheiro, Sahil Pontula.
Common archive reference — Table of Physical Constants
This separate common USAAAO archive reference is undated in the catalogue. Its use as the exact 2025 exam attachment is not established.
| Quantity | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Electron rest mass | ||
| Proton rest mass | ||
| Electronic charge | ||
| Speed of light in free space | ||
| Permeability of free space | ||
| Permittivity of free space | ||
| Planck’s constant | ||
| Reduced Planck’s constant | ||
| Boltzmann’s constant | ||
| Gas constant | ||
| Molar gas constant | ||
| Avogadro’s number | ||
| Standard molar volume | ||
| Unified atomic mass unit ( scale) | ||
| Mass of hydrogen atom | ||
| Bohr magneton | or | |
| Nuclear magneton | or | |
| Proton magnetic moment | ||
| Neutron magnetic moment | ||
| Bohr radius | ||
| Fine structure constant | ||
| Compton wavelength of electron | ||
| Rydberg’s constant | ||
| Stefan-Boltzmann constant | ||
| Radiation density constant | ||
| Gravitational constant |
Rest masses of some leptons and hadrons in :
0.5110, 105.66, 1777, 134.98, 139.57, 493.7, 497.7, 547, 1865, 1869, p 938.3, n 939.6, 1115.7, 1189, 1193, 1197, 1315, 1321, 1672, , .
| Quark | Charge | Mass () | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| u | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| d | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| c | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 0 | ||
| s | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| t | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 174.3 | |
| b | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 4.2 |
Common archive reference — Astrophysical Data and identities
Astrophysical Data
| Quantity | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 astronomical unit | AU | |
| 1 parsec | pc | |
| Luminosity of Sun | ||
| Mass of Sun | ||
| Radius of Sun | ||
| Mass of Earth | ||
| Radius of Earth |
Other data and conversion factors
| Quantity | Symbol | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 ångstrom | Å | |
| 1 fermi | fm | |
| 1 barn | b | |
| 1 pascal | Pa | |
| 1 standard atmosphere | ||
| Standard acceleration due to gravity | ||
| 1 electron volt | eV | |
| Wavelength of 1 eV photon |
Trigonometrical identities
In a triangle ABC,
and
Prefixes
| Prefix | Name | Factor |
|---|---|---|
| T | tera | |
| G | giga | |
| M | mega | |
| k | kilo | |
| c | centi | |
| m | milli | |
| micro | ||
| n | nano | |
| p | pico | |
| f | femto |
Source note: The common table prints and . The 2025 question14/key15 use 9.81 and key7 uses 6371 km; those original exam values are preserved separately.
Условие
Observed from the equator, what is the maximum duration over which Venus can be observed (continuously) after sunset? Assume that the orbits of Venus and Earth are circular of radius 0.723 AU and 1 AU and lie on the ecliptic plane.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
Отговори
- C
Решение
From the equator, the difference in set times between celestial bodies is just their difference in Right Ascension. We thus wish to find a solar system configuration that maximizes .
We do not provide a formal mathematical proof here, neither did we expect test-takers to rigorously arrive at their answer. Rather, we hoped test-takers would use their intuition to find this configuration.
Given enough time, the Sun and Venus can take any pair of locations on the Ecliptic, with the restriction that the separation, or elongation, does not exceed . The configuration is the following:

It should be clear that Venus and the Sun should be at maximum separation . Furthermore, in this figure, the arc between Venus and the Sun is essentially parallel to the equator and also high as possible on the sphere. We thus would expect an answer close to , and indeed, some spherical geometry gives:
This evaluates to .
Answer: C
Source note: The right-ascension difference and sin E/2 numerator are preserved with their printed signs/notation. The source gives no formal proof, as it explicitly states.
Теми и трудност
Оценена трудност: 4/5.
Слънчева система · Небесна сфера и сферична астрономия · Планетни конфигурации · Небесни координати · Денонощно движение и видимост
Предпоставки: Гимназиална подготовка, Разширена олимпиадна подготовка
Оригинал в Архива: exam_2025.pdf · официални решения: sol_2025.pdf · допълнителни данни: physical-constants.pdf