We teach the astronomy olympiads.
Courses for INAO, USAAAO, BAAO and IOAA: recorded lessons and live classes, a problem set after every module, and full-length mocks at real difficulty. The first lesson of any course is free to watch, and you don't need an account for it.
Free preview Complete Astronomy for USAAAO · Beginner
The celestial sphere: horizontal, equatorial, and ecliptic coordinates
65 min · no account needed
- Problem set 1: coordinate systems & the celestial sphere assignment · 60 min
- Sidereal vs. solar time, the equation of time, and the seasons lesson · 60 min
- Problem set 2: time systems & seasonal motion assignment · 55 min
- Start free
- Open lesson one and see whether the pace suits you. Some courses stay free the whole way through.
- Taught by medalists
- The lessons are written by people who have sat these papers themselves, at IOAA and at the national camps.
- Marked by hand
- Your problem sets come back with written feedback on the reasoning, from the person who taught the lesson. Not a score out of ten.
Try it before you commit to anything
Start watching, right away
No sign-up wall on the opening lesson — press play and see what it's actually like to learn here.
Decide if it fits
Get a real feel for the pace and teaching style before committing to anything further.
Pick up where you left off
Continue anytime, exactly where you stopped. No re-watching, no lost progress.
Built for Olympiad Excellence
Expert Mentors
Every course is taught by an astronomy expert, not a generic tutor reading off slides. You're learning the actual problem-solving instincts that won medals.
Regular Assignments
Problems modeled on real IOAA and camp sets and calibrated for competition, not textbook drills.
Mock Exams
Full-length, competition-difficulty mocks with detailed feedback on both your solutions and your strategy.
Community
A close-knit Discord for group-solves and late-night "wait, how did you get that" conversations.
Before you dive in
Do I need any prior astronomy background?
No. Courses are organized by level, and the foundations track assumes nothing beyond high school physics.
What happens after I watch the first lesson?
You decide if you want to continue. Some courses are free the whole way through; others unlock the rest once you're in.
Who writes the assignments and mock exams?
IOAA medalists and training camp veterans design every assignment and mock exam, calibrated to real competition difficulty rather than textbook problems.
More ways to prepare, all free
Courses is one part of a larger project bridging olympiad theory and real astrophysics.
AO Guide
The free written guide this whole project is built on, covering olympiad astronomy theory from first principles.
AOAC
A free astrophysics challenge with problems written by IOAA medalists, built to push past what standard exams test.
aoXiv
An archive of over a thousand problems across all major astronomy olympiads, with official and translated solutions.