Takneek

Now that you’ve come here under the pressure from your Pool / Hall cap, let’s get to the point. Takneek is the annual freshers’ competition of IIT Kanpur organized by the SnT Council usually in August. It is one of three events that comprise the annual General Championship (GC). It primarily serves three purposes:

• Encourage freshmen to get their hands dirty exploring the different domains under the Science and Technology Council
• Instill a sense of healthy competition and hall spirit among the freshmen
• Enforce the bonds between seniors and juniors, which go a long way

The events and competitions are designed to test your skills in a variety of fields, and you can participate in as many events as you want as long as your hall permits and the timings of the two events don’t clash with each other. They’re also designed to be beginner friendly, so don’t worry if you don’t have any prior experience.

Although aimed towards freshmen, Takneek is more often that not overshadowed by sophomores and junior undergraduates, i.e. the second and third year students. But for the freshmen who are astronomy enthusiasts, rejoice! For we know how important it is as a freshman to feel involved. Hence, in all the astronomy related competitions we organize as a part of Takneek, we include a minimum criterion on the number of freshmen required per competition. Because, remember, every senior was a freshman once too!

Takneek ends with SnT Code, a truly marvellous night and one to remember as well. From 8 PM to 6 AM, intensive problem statements are released, astronomy ones included. A leaderboard is maintained and results are announced at 7 AM.

Problem Statements

An outline of the type of problem statements the club coordinators might choose to release include, but are not limited to:

1. Heavens Above: An observation based problem statement involving telescopes (ofc, what did you expect!?). On average, a team of two undergrads (one of them being a fresher) is required to represent their pool at the clubroom, where the competition is held. Marks are awarded on the basis of the students’ ability to:

   • Using naked eye observations, correctly point towards a visible object(s)
   • Show the coordinators the requested object(s) via the telescope(s)

2. Lost Explorer: A theory intensive problem statement, Lost Explorer dives deep into theoretical astronomy and astrophysics. Anything from celestial mechanics to black holes can be asked. So we suggest you read this wiki thoroughly to get a firm understanding about the basics of the theory.

3. Atoms to Astronomy: A cryptic puzzle, much more intensive that Astro Riddles, this will be an open problem statement. 2 representatives from each pool will be required to come to the OAT stage and explain their solution to the puzzle before 6 AM. As you may expect, the faster you solve, the more points you’ll get. The entire solution needs to be correct for you to get points. Taking hints from the coordinators is allowed, but your pool will be penailzed for that.