Site Conditions for Astronomy at the South Pole

• Main Authors: Storey Ashley Burton, J. W. V. Storey, M. C. B. Ashley
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antarctica; Site Testing; Astronomy; Infrared; Seeing; Antarctic; South Pole; The Antarctic; Antarc*; South pole
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.42.7340; http://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/~mgb/Antbib/spie98_3354-131.ps.gz

We discuss the site conditions for astronomy at the South Pole and over the Antarctic plateau. We find that these conditions are the most favorable on Earth for sensitive observations at thermal infrared and sub-millimeter wavelengths. We further discuss plans to develop infrared facilities to exploit this potential. Keywords: Antarctica, Site Testing, Astronomy, Infrared, Seeing 1. INTRODUCTION The Antarctic plateau provides unique conditions on the Earth for the conduct of observational astronomy. The air is thin, dry and cold, with stable weather; these attributes all offer gains to the observational astronomer. The conditions are quite different to those experienced at Antarctic coastal locations, which are frequently subject to violent storms. The plateau is over 3,000 m in elevation, rising to more than 4,000m at Dome A. An average year-round temperature of \Gamma50 ffi C, falling to \Gamma90 ffi C at times, vastly reduces the thermal background in the near--IR. The preci.