Report XXIV Italian Astronomy Championships

By Marco Lucente and Feliciana Sapio, members of the Lazio Committee for the Italian Astronomy Championships

Every year, the Italian Astronomy Championships, a competition designed to stimulate interest in physics, astrophysics, and the study of the cosmos, sees thousands of students competing with formulas, constellations, and celestial coordinates.

Promoted by the Ministry of Education and Merit (MIM) and organized by the Italian Astronomical Society (SAIt) in collaboration with the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF), the Championships are divided into four categories (Junior 1, Junior 2, Senior, and Master) and are aimed at students from secondary schools of both first and second grade.

The Championships consist of three main phases:

• Preselection Phase: The first step takes place directly in schools. Students take a written test with multiple-choice questions on topics in astronomy and astrophysics.
• Interregional Competition: Those who pass the first phase face a more complex test focused on solving problems related to celestial mechanics, magnitudes, telescopes, and astronomical coordinates.
• National Final: The students selected from the interregional competitions finally meet at the national final for the concluding act. Here, the challenge becomes serious and is divided into two parts:
  • 1. Theoretical Test: Solving high-level problems in astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology.
  • 2. Practical Test: Analyzing real data (often from professional telescopes) or tests on celestial maps and recognizing the starry sky.

The XXIV edition of the Astronomy Championships saw the participation of 341 schools with 9,700 students and concluded on April 29 in Monza with 90 finalists from all over Italy. The winners of the national final, in addition to proudly taking home a prestigious title, have the opportunity to join the Italian team that will represent Italy at the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA), which will take place in Ubon Ratchathani (Thailand) from November 1 to 8 for the Junior 2 category and in Hanoi (Vietnam) from September 25 to October 5 for the Senior and Master categories.

Ten of the 18 winners of the national championships will challenge their peers from around the world: the five Junior 2 Rachele Pia Matarazzi from the “M. Guerrisi – V. Gerace” high school in Cittanova (RC), Giorgio Gustapane from the “C. De Giorgi” scientific high school in Lecce, Marco Scoglio from the “L. Gigli” scientific high school in Rovato (BS), Chiara De Paoli from the “M. Grigoletti” scientific high school in Pordenone, and Andrea Di Silvestro from the “E. Medi” Institute in Randazzo (CT); the three Senior Davide Barberi from the “Leonardo da Vinci” scientific high school in Reggio Calabria, Ludovica Rial Corsini from the “L. Gigli” scientific high school in Rovato (BS), and Andrea Cusimano from the “T. Levi Civita” scientific high school in Rome; finally, the two Master Tiziano Grillo from the “A. Moro” scientific high school in Reggio Emilia and Riccardo Brunetta from the “Leopardi – Majorana” scientific high school in Pordenone.

For the XXIV edition, 12 students from Lazio out of a total of 90 participated in the national final in Monza, distributed across various categories: Paolo Raccichini, Simone Agnello, Andrea Sparapani, and Silvio Del Monte for Junior 1, Francesco Tropenscovino and Sophie Cornali for Junior 2, Alessandro Fabi, Marco Rosiello, and Federico Fiengo for Senior, Gianni Pampersi, Andrea Cusimano, and Mattia Francescangeli for Master. Among these, three emerged as winners in the Junior 1 category (Simone Agnello from the “Castelverde” State Comprehensive Institute and Andrea Sparapani from the “R. Levi Montalcini” State Comprehensive Institute in Rome) and Master (Andrea Cusimano from the “T. Levi Civita” State Scientific High School in Rome), while three others received merit diplomas for the Junior 2 (Francesco Tropenscovino from the “T. Mamiani” State Scientific High School in Rome), Senior (Federico Fiengo from the “V. Volterra” State Scientific High School in Ciampino), and Master (Gianni Pampersi from the “G. Galilei” State Scientific High School in Civitavecchia). Furthermore, Andrea Cusimano, already a multiple winner in previous years, will be part of the Italian team at the International Olympiad at the end of September in Vietnam (last year he won a bronze medal at the same Olympiad in India).

The Lazio Committee for the Italian Astronomy Championships, based at IAPS (Institute of Astrophysics and Space Planetology) in Rome, organizes a post-national competition event every year to highlight the commitment and effort of the students from the Lazio region who have passed the Interregional Phase and had the opportunity to test themselves in the National Final.

This year, the students were invited to the Vatican Observatory in Castelgandolfo (the Pope's summer residence) and, accompanied by their teachers and parents, experienced an afternoon dedicated to astronomy: under the careful guidance of Don Matteo Galaverni and Father Jacek Olczyk, they visited the Observatory Museum, observing a rich and valuable collection of meteorites, astronomical instruments from the 1700s-1800s, historic photographic plates for observations of the Moon and the spectra of stars, manuscripts dating back to the Renaissance, and finally a gallery of historical photos with the various Popes who have succeeded one another over time.

Additionally, using two solar telescopes (from IAPS and the Observatory), they were able to observe the Sun through the telescope both in visible light and with the H-alpha filter, identifying sunspots, prominences, and faculae, benefiting from the knowledge and explanations of the IAPS researchers who are members of the Lazio committee: Marco Lucente, Maria Pia Di Mauro, Mariateresa Fiocchi, Feliciana Sapio, Camilla Pezzotti, and the Observatory technician Claudio Osta.

At the conclusion of the event, which was very well received by all guests, the most emotional moment for the students: amidst a warm and strong applause, each winner received gifts offered by IAPS, including the periodicals “Universi” and “Sensi e Sensori”, notebooks and pens with the Astronomy Championships/INAF logo, and finally various posters kindly donated for the occasion by the magazine “Coelum Astronomia” featuring spectacular images of nebulae and galaxies from our Universe captured by professional telescopes at the Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii.

Beyond the competitive aspect, the Astronomy Championships represent an important opportunity for growth: they allow students to connect with the world of research, compete in national and international contexts, and explore and nurture, from a young age, that innate wonder we feel every time we look at the sky.

All photos from the event can be viewed in the online photo archives “Championships 2026 – Observatory” and “Vatican Observatory (10/06/2026) - XXIV ed. Astronomy Championships.”