Antarctic Astronomy: from Infrared to Millimeter Wave

• Main Author: Burton Joint Australian
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amundsen Scott South Pole Station; Amundsen-Scott; Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station; Antarctic; Dome Argus; South Pole; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica; South pole
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.27.3535; http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~mgb/Antbib/pasp97_mgb.ps.gz

. The dry, cold, tenuous and stable air above the Antarctic plateau provides superb conditions for the conduct of many classes of astronomical observations. We review the rationale for undertaking photon astronomy from Antarctica, and the disciplines where telescopes are now operating at the Amundsen--Scott South Pole Station. 1. Introduction The Antarctic plateau provides unique conditions on the Earth for the conduct of observational astronomy. Simply stated, the air is thin, dry and cold and the weather stable, attributes all offering gains to the observational astronomer. These conditions are quite different to those experienced at Antarctic coastal locations, which are frequently subject to violent storms. The plateau is over 3,000m in elevation, rising up to 4,300m at Dome Argus. An average year-round temperature of-50 ffi C, falling to-90 ffi C at times, vastly reduces the thermal background in the near--IR. The precipitable water vapour content of the air is typically ar.