Astronomy from Antarctica

Storey, J. W. V.

doi:10.1017/s095410200500297x

Cited by 27 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…There are now many articles on the characteristics of the various Antarctic sites; for a summary see, for example, Storey (2005) and Burton (2007). This work attempts to draw together some of these papers, and also unpublished meteorological and other information for these sites, to help characterise what are almost certainly the best sites on Earth for many forms of astronomy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where Is the Best Site on Earth? Domes A, B, C, and F, and Ridges A and B

Saunders¹,

Lawrence²,

Storey³

et al. 2009

PUBL ASTRON SOC PAC

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The Antarctic plateau contains the best sites on earth for many forms of astronomy, but none of the existing bases was selected with astronomy as the primary motivation. In this paper, we try to systematically compare the merits of potential observatory sites. We include South Pole, Domes A, C and F, and also Ridge B (running NE from Dome A), and what we call 'Ridge A' (running SW from Dome A). Our analysis combines satellite data, published results and atmospheric models, to compare the boundary layer, weather, aurorae, airglow, precipitable water vapour, thermal sky emission, surface temperature, and the free atmosphere, at each site. We find that all Antarctic sites are likely to be compromised for optical work by airglow and aurorae. Of the sites with existing bases, Dome A is easily the best overall; but we find that Ridge A offers an even better site. We also find that Dome F is a remarkably good site. Dome C is less good as a thermal infrared or terahertz site, but would be able to take advantage of a predicted 'OH hole' over Antarctica during Spring.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Where Is the Best Site on Earth? Domes A, B, C, and F, and Ridges A and B

Saunders¹,

Lawrence²,

Storey³

et al. 2009

PUBL ASTRON SOC PAC

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“…The review finishes with some personal thoughts of where astronomy will develop on the continent over the coming years. Many sources have been drawn upon for this review, and in particular it extends the earlier reviews of Storey (2005), and Storey (2009). Several books have been devoted entirely to Astronomy in Antarctica, the proceedings of conferences held on the subject.…”

Section: This Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Astronomy in Antarctica

Burton

2004

Organizations and Strategies in Astronomy

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Antarctica provides a unique environment for astronomers to practice their trade. The cold, dry and stable air found above the high Antarctic plateau, as well as the pure ice below, offers new opportunities for the conduct of observational astronomy across both the photon and the particle spectrum. The summits of the Antarctic plateau provide the best seeing conditions, the darkest skies and the most transparent atmosphere of any earth-based observing site. Astronomical activities are now underway at four plateau sites: the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, Concordia Station at Dome C, Kunlun Station at Dome A and Fuji Station at Dome F, in addition to long duration ballooning from the coastal station of McMurdo, at stations run by the USA, France / Italy, China, Japan and the USA, respectively. The astronomy conducted from Antarctica includes optical, infrared, terahertz and sub-millimetre astronomy, measurements of cosmic microwave background anisotropies, solar astronomy, as well as high energy astrophysics involving the measurement of cosmic rays, gamma rays and neutrinos. Antarctica is also the richest source of meteorites on our planet.An extensive range of site testing measurements have been made over the high plateau sites. In this paper we summarise the facets of Antarctica that are driving developments in astronomy there, and review the results of the site testing experiments undertaken to quantify those characteristics of the Antarctic plateau relevant for astronomical observation. We also outline the historical development of the astronomy on the continent, and then review the principal scientific results to have emerged over the past three decades of activity in the discipline. These range from determination of the dominant frequencies of the 5 minute solar oscillation in 1979 to the highest angular scale measurements yet made of the power spectrum of the CMBR anisotropies in 2010. They span through infrared views of the galactic ecology in star formation complexes in 1999, the first clear demonstration that the Universe was flat in 2000, the first detection of polarization in the CMBR in 2002, the mapping of the warm molecular gas across the ∼ 300 pc extent of the Central Molecular Zone of our Galaxy in 2003, the measurement of cosmic neutrinos in 2005, and imaging of the thermal Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect in galaxy clusters in 2008.This review also discusses how science is conducted in Antarctica, and in particular the difficulties, as well as the advantages, faced by astronomers seeking to bring their experiments there. It also reviews some of the political issues that will be encountered, both at national and international level. Finally, the review discusses where Antarctic astronomy may be heading in the coming decade, in particular plans for infrared and terahertz astronomy, including the new facilities being considered for these wavebands at the high plateau stations.

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“…At optical wavelengths most of the attention is now focussed on the Concordia station at Dome C, where excellent cloud-cover statistics, low free-atmosphere seeing and a relatively thin turbulent boundary layer have been measured, as summarised in e.g., Storey (2005). For example, Lawrence et al (2004) investigated the seeing at Dome C and reported that the median seeing above the boundary layer is 0.27 ′′ , and for 25% of the time is as low to 0.15 ′′ .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The First Release of the CSTAR Point Source Catalog from Dome A, Antarctica

Xu¹,

Zhou²,

Jiang³

et al. 2010

PUBL ASTRON SOC PAC

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In 2008 January the 24 th Chinese expedition team successfully deployed the Chinese Small Telescope ARray (CSTAR) to Dome A, the highest point on the Antarctic plateau. CSTAR consists of four 14.5cm optical telescopes, each with a different filter (g, r, i and open) and has a 4.5 • × 4.5 • field of view (FOV). It operates robotically as part of the Plateau Observatory, PLATO, with each telescope taking an image every ∼30 seconds throughout the year whenever it is dark. During 2008, CSTAR #1 performed almost flawlessly, acquiring more than 0.3 million i-band images for a total integration time of 1728 hours during 158 days of observations. For each image taken under good sky conditions, more than 10,000 sources down to ∼ 16 th magnitude could -2be detected. We performed aperture photometry on all the sources in the field to create the catalog described herein. Since CSTAR has a fixed pointing centered on the South Celestial Pole (Dec = −90 • ), all the sources within the FOV of CSTAR were monitored continuously for several months. The photometric catalog can be used for studying any variability in these sources, and for the discovery of transient sources such as supernovae, gamma-ray bursts and minor planets.

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Astronomy from Antarctica

Cited by 27 publications

References 32 publications

Where Is the Best Site on Earth? Domes A, B, C, and F, and Ridges A and B

Where Is the Best Site on Earth? Domes A, B, C, and F, and Ridges A and B

Astronomy in Antarctica

The First Release of the CSTAR Point Source Catalog from Dome A, Antarctica

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