The 29th of March marked the end of the second edition of the Junior Astronomical Olympiad (OAJ – Olimpiada Astronomiczna Juniorów): the newly established interdisciplinary initiative aimed at primary school students, which groups together physics, geography, and mathematics in the context of astronomy.
The contest took place in three phases: an in-school test, semifinals throughout several Polish cities, and multistage finals at the Silesian Planetarium in Chorzów. Twenty two finalists contended not only with challenging theoretical tasks, but also with practical observations of the sky. The contestants analysed a rocket launch from the Lunar surface, calculated Mars’s orbital eccentricity as if embodying Johanes Kepler, and searched the night sky for supernovae.
Thirteen participants in the contest’s ultimate phase were officially named finalists, and nine of them became Laureates. The youngest participant in the Olympiad was a student from the fourth grade!
The winner was Samuel Kuna, last year’s laureate and bronze medallist of the International Olympiad on Astronomy for Juniors. Subsequent places were taken by: Karol Różycki, Szymon Mrozek, Bartosz Muszyński, Maciej Młynarczyk, Wojciech Komenda, Mateusz Sobański, and Franciszek Jastrzębski jointly with Adam Tomaka.
1st place
2nd place
3rd place
The top six contestants will take part in a preparatory training camp, and the best of these participants will go on to represent Poland at the international finals in Thailand.
The event took place in partnership with the Nicolaus Copernicus Academy has been the partner of the event, which has also financed additional prizes for the top three winners.
We cordially congratulate all the finalists and laureates!
Laureates and Finalists of the OAJ 2025/2026, Chorzów