For these talented teens, reaching out for the stars is just the first step, as they make a clean sweep at the International Astronomy Olympiad

While average teenagers, apart from going to school and inevitable tuitions hang out with friends, watch movies and party, these kids dispute mathematical theorems and surf the net for information on astronomy in their spare time. It is little wonder then that Abhishek Oswal of St Mary's School, Sarthak Chandra of Bishop's School, Aniruddha Bapat from Army Public School and Jayant Thatte of SP College returned as part of the best team at the International Astronomy Olympiad held in Trieste, Italy between October 13 and 20.

Aniruddha Bapat won a bronze while the other three won a silver medal each. Of the two students from other cities, Shantanu Agarwal of Patna bagged the lone gold while Nitish Kumar Singh of Mumbai took another silver.

The four from Pune reveal the hard work it took to get there. "We were able to make it to the second round without much study," says Thatte, who read Vedic History as part of his preparation, "However, in the third round the competition got serious," they add.

Around 6000 students in the age group of 14 to 17 years, across India, participated in the National Astronomy Olympiad of which only 10 per cent were selected for the National Camp held in Mumbai in May. "For 20 days, 13 to 16 hours a day we were trained rigorously on Math, Physics and Astronomy. We solved puzzles and discussed theory," enthuses 14-year-old Oswal.

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