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Astronomy program
Will we be the first to see other life supporting planets?
Advances in astronomy are made through making more sensitive measurements of the radiation arriving on the Earth from space than has been achieved before. This requires sophisticated instrumentation, sited where the skies are clearest. The high Antarctic plateau provides unique conditions on the Earth for this pursuit. It is drier, colder and has more stable air than anywhere else on our planet. These attributes all offer enormous gains in sensitivity for a wide range of programs for an Antarctic telescope over one at a mid-latitude site. They are what is driving the Australian Antarctic astronomy program.
Australia, in close collaboration with the USA, has been running a site-testing program at the South Pole since 1994. Through a series of experiments, starting from a refurbished infrared photometer once used on the Anglo Australian Telescope to map the centre of our Galaxy, and culminating in the AASTO, or 'Automated Astrophysical Site Testing Observatory', the properties of the South Pole site that affect astronomy have now been quantified. It is clear that at infrared and millimetre wavelengths the South Pole is a better telescope site than any other currently in use on the Earth. At even higher sites, such as the summits of the Antarctic plateau at Domes A and C, lying in the Australian Antarctic Territory, the conditions are expected to be better still. The ultimate Earth-based observatory, second only to one in space or on the Moon, could be built here.
In addition to site-testing, Australia has also participated with the USA in operating a proto-type infrared telescope, called SPIREX, at the South Pole. It was developed to show that it is possible to operate sophisticated equipment in the hostile conditions (for humans at least!) of Antarctica. SPIREX was used to study how stars form within our Galaxy, enshrouded within great clouds of gas and dust that shield their birth from optical telescopes. One star forming complex, NGC 6334, was shown to be rich in organic molecules.
Antarctic telescopes offer us the opportunity to study how planets, stars and even galaxies are born. These events are obscured to normal view, but infrared radiation can escape from within their veil, revealing how these fundamental processes in nature occur. Because of the extreme cold and dry air, such observations of "heat" radiation from Antarctica are vastly more sensitive than from temperate latitude observatories. Eventually, with an array of telescopes operating at mid-infrared wavelengths, around 10 microns, it may even be possible to image planetary systems orbiting nearby stars with an Antarctic telescope. As the next step towards such a grand-design project investigating our origins, Australia is now exploring ways of building a 2m-sized infrared telescope in Antarctica, capable of studying how stars and galaxies form.
Some related web-sites:
Metadata for Astronomy are held at the Australian Antarctic Data Centre
For more information, email: astronomy@aad.gov.au
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