Article by Amoda Kossalawatte
The Inter-School Competition, ‘Starry Night 23’, hosted by St. Anthony’s College, Kandy (SACK) was held on the 14th of July, 2023 as part of their annual Astronomical Night. The event gathered quiz teams from across the island to engage in an intellectual battle on galactic knowledge. This year, 16 teams vied to display their sentience in astronomy. Trinity College Kandy claimed the Championship demonstrating erudition in Cosmology. The team embodied dedication, diligence, and perseverance.
Rigorous preparation paved the way for this victory. DelvING into textbooks and scientific journals to ensure that they were fully prepared for any question they may face, the members of the team passionately practiced for the uphill battle.
As twilight fell on the 14th July, the team nervously counted the minutes for the highly anticipated quiz to begin. The quiz team was frantically cramming facts into their minds when Astro Night started at 6.30pm. The opening ceremony featured two lectures from astronomy experts. Afterwards the participants witnessed some model rocket launches organized by the SACK Astronomical Society.
After dinner, the team consisting:
- Methul Dissanayake (Captain)(Cosmology)
- Amoda Kossalawatte (Rocketry)
- Thusath Dissanayake (General and Observational Astronomy)
- Himaru Abeygunarathne (Astrophysics)
faced the first round of the quiz while the other member of the team: Disath Jayasinghe participated in the astronomy workshop. The first round included a question paper on the respective subject of each team member. Following the question paper, the team deciphered a code as part of a task. At the end of the first round, Trinity College was in 3rd place, much to the team’s contentment.
The schools in the first four places were selected for the semifinals. The quiz team faced another round of question papers. The Trinity team wasn’t optimistic about the second round as the questions were particularly difficult. So, it was a pleasant surprise when the voice of the compere rang out: “The finalists are, Trinity College Kandy and Ananda College Colombo 10.”
Quiz teams from Ananda College and Trinity College took their places on the stage for the final round, for a passionate duel of brain power. The two teams tackled astronomy trivia as well as calculation tests. Both teams kept track of the scores of the trivia questions, but nobody was certain of the accuracy of the calculation tests. So, the two teams were oblivious of the claimant of the championship.
All the participants were on the edge of their seats anticipating the announcement of this year’s ‘Starry Night’ Champions.
When the announcer’s voice resonated through the auditorium, declaring Trinity College as the champions of the ‘Starry Night’ Inter-School Astronomy Quiz, cheers erupted as the Trinity team took to the stage to receive the Shield and the certificates. Their victory is a beacon to the ASTCK, inspiring future generations of Trinity’s young astronomers to achieve greatness.
