The Narrative Fallacy writes "Live Science reports that astronomers in search of the perfect site to take pictures of the heavens have combined data from satellites, ground stations and climate models in a study to assess the many factors that affect image quality — cloud cover, temperature, sky-brightness, water vapor, wind speeds and atmospheric turbulence. They have pinpointed the coldest, driest, calmest place on earth, known simply as Ridge A, 13,297 feet high on the Antarctic Plateau. 'It's so calm that there's almost no wind or weather there at all,' says study leader Will Saunders, of the Anglo-Australian Observatory. 'The astronomical images taken at Ridge A should be at least three times sharper than at the best sites currently used by astronomers.' Located within the Australian Antarctic Territory, the site is 89 miles from the PLATO (PLATeau Observatory) international robotic observatory. The new site would be superior to the best existing observatories on high mountain tops in Hawaii and Chile, Saunders says. 'Because the sky there is so much darker and drier, it means that a modestly-sized telescope would be as powerful as the largest telescopes anywhere else on earth.'"
but I still think the best spot for observational astronomy has to be the far side of the Moon. You've got several thousand miles of light and EM shielding, and a good couple weeks' seeing a month when the Sun goes down. Once the 'scopes cool off, there's no warping. What's not to love?
And the antarcitc site comes with its' own problems, Since it isn't windy, any man-made smog will stay there. You're going to need to burn fuel for the generators, heating, transport, etc., and in cold temperatures you're going to get the water vapor in the exhaust crystalizing, forming ground-level fog. Since it's so calm, it'll just accumulate, then condense on the cold optics. Have fun seeing when your mirror's frosted over with an inch of rime.
Since it's so calm, it'll just accumulate, then condense on the cold optics. Have fun seeing when your mirror's frosted over with an inch of rime.
Presumably you put the generator a sufficient distance away to minimize any disturbance to the optics, or to seeing quality. The area gets almost no precipitation and probably no animal life, so anything you lay on the ground will remain undisturbed. In this sense it seems like an ideal place to run an automated telescope, if you can get past the somewhat difficult access issue.
Regarding the "condensing on the optics" problem, astronomers have hundreds of years of experience dealing with this issue. The simplest approach is to slightly warm the optics using resistive heaters. As long as the optics are slightly warmer than the surroundings, any water in the air will condense somewhere else. You don't want too much heating, since then you form convective air currents above the mirror that harm the seeing conditions. However with some reasonably accurate temperature sensors and a feedback controller, the condensation problem is straightforward to solve.
>>>best spot for observational astronomy has to be the far side of the Moon... What's not to love?
Funny you mention "love" because there's no women on the moon, or on that ridge in Antarctica, which is a major drawback of accepting either of those jobs. Oh wait. It's just like my current job.
Funny you mention "love" because there's no women on the moon, or on that ridge in Antarctica, which is a major drawback of accepting either of those jobs.
Aw, the solitude's not so bad. The guy you really gotta feel sorry for is the midget they crammed inside the Hubble to draw everything he saw and drop the pictures back to Earth, message-in-a-bottle style.
Funny you mention "love" because there's no women on the moon, or on that ridge in Antarctica, which is a major drawback of accepting either of those jobs. Oh wait. It's just like my current job.
Don't worry - either place will be so cold that you'll need your ID to tell which sex you are.
The absence of women will just mean not to have to contend with PMS on a regular basis.
The problem is getting the data back to Earth. I would assume that it would be an un-staffed observatory, in which case, you'd need to do one of the following:
send up a courier to swap out SD cards every few weeks.
set up a network connecting the station with a transmitter which has line-of-site to the Earth.
put a couple of satellites in orbit which are in line-of-sight to the far side of the moon, so that the data could be relayed back to Earth.
The last option is probably the cheapest, but it's st
It's also in the Middle of Nowhere. So getting to it is going to be very expensive.
Anyhow, we're on to you, Mr. I'm-extraordinarily-antisocial Astronomer. We are not going to support your social avoidance issues with a multimillion dollar playpen. Just take your meds!
Oh, give me a home where the penguins roam
And the frigid astronomers play
Where seldom is heard a single word
And the skies are not cloudy all day
How often at night when the heavens are bright
With the light from the glittering stars
Have I stood there amazed and asked as I gazed
If their glory exceeds that of ours
Home, home on Ridge A
And the frigid astronomers play
Where seldom is heard a single word
And the skies are not cloudy all day
Where the air is so pure, the zephyrs so free
The breezes so calm and light
That I would not exchange my home on Ridge A
For all of the cities so bright
The Antarctic gate was in storage after being retreived from McMurdo. The original Giza gate was in use at SGC until it was beamed up into Thor's ship before it crashed into the pacific.
Then the A-Gate became the primary because the G-Gate was thought lost in the Pacific, but it was infact retrieved by the Russians and they ran their own gate program.
It was the A-Gate that was destroyed by Anubis. The G-gate was then purchased back from the Russians after they figured out that Anubis's gate-blower-upper-thingy was destroyed.
Nope, the one in Giza was used to escape a crashing Asgard ship, after which the Antarctica Stargate was moved to Stargate Command. The Russians recovered the Giza Stargate from the ocean floor and started their own Stargate program. Later, a new weapon developed by Anubis led to the destruction of the Antarctica Stargate. Stargate Command arranged a deal to lease the Giza Stargate from the Russians, and 'purchased' it outright by giving the Russians a Daedalus-class ship (the Korolev).
Quick, before anyone else can, let's raise some venture capital and build a few resorts there.
The commercial practically writes itself!
Ridge A villas, your ticket to paradise on earth!*
*Ridge A Villas is not responsible for hypothermia, loss of limbs due to gangrene, or Abominable Snowman attacks. Any lawsuit filed against Ridge A Villas must be filed in Antarctica county district court jurisdiction within 90 hours of the incident.
*Ridge A Villas is not responsible for hypothermia, loss of limbs due to gangrene, or Abominable Snowman attacks. Any lawsuit filed against Ridge A Villas must be filed in Antarctica county district court jurisdiction within 90 hours of the incident.
Pfft, you can disclaim whatever you want. In court, it'll be easy to show that Ridge A Villas are responsible for the Abominable Snowman attacks, due to cutting him out of the mascot deal and resulting merchandising royalties.
To be fair, the reasons for not recognizing the territory are ostensibly noble; they theoretically believe that the continent should be treated as a shared resource with limited exploitation (primarily for scientific purposes). Granted, both Russia and the US "reserve the right" to make territorial claims in the future, but to do so they'd have to withdraw from the Antarctic Treaty (which explicitly forbids new territorial claims, and explicitly fails to either recognize or dispute pre-existing claims). I
Let me remind you how colonialism works. You get to keep whatever you claim and which nobody else can force you to relinquish. All pretence of civilization and legality when it comes to claims of "sovereignty" in cases like this are just that: pretences.
The emptiness of any "legal" claims to sovereignty over Antarctica can readily be seen by the fact that most countries ignore territorial claims and those that do have conflicting claims, yet it makes no difference. Nobody is going to insist on pressing
I wonder why the Katabatic winds [wikipedia.org] don't blow there. I thought the entire continent was pretty much consumed by these winds. Learn something new everyday.
Katabatic winds are caused by cooling air moving downhill, so it seems to me that they would be the greatest around the shoreline and non-existent at the center.
I would guess that it's at one of the high locations where the Katabatic winds start from. They're like avalanches, they aren't bad at the top, just at the bottom.
No weather at all? Wonder what those people will talk about:
- God it's so nothing out there! - You tell me, I've been out there the whole morning! I can't stand this nothingness anymore... - Hey, have you seen the snow today? It's kind of yellower today isn't it?
The aurora is a common occurrence in the Poles. It is occasionally seen in temperate latitudes, when a strong magnetic storm temporarily expands the auroral oval. Large magnetic storms are most common during the peak of the eleven-year sunspot cycle or during the three years after that peak.[citation needed] However, within the auroral zone the likelihood of an aurora occurring depends mostly on the slant of IMF lines (the slant is known as Bz), being greater with southward slants. Geomagnetic storms that ignite auroras actually happen more often during the months around the equinoxes. It is not well understood why geomagnetic storms are tied to Earth's seasons while polar activity is not. But it is known that during spring and autumn, the interplanetary magnetic field and that of Earth link up. At the magnetopause, Earth's magnetic field points north. When Bz becomes large and negative (i.e., the IMF tilts south), it can partially cancel Earth's magnetic field at the point of contact. South-pointing Bz's open a door through which energy from the solar wind can reach Earth's inner magnetosphere.
The calmest place on earth, duh. Unfortunately it won't help you observe the stars and galaxies unless you mix in some psilocybin or LSD or what have you.
If you spot reading slashdot, you might find the time and focus to finish your dissertation. Seriously, reading Slashdot too much serves to create an Attention Defecit Disorder. Now if....whoo what's that! I found another open wifi network!...now where was I? Yea...Slashdot is like a bazaar of ideas, but you just went out for milk and bread.
For Earthbound, mebbe... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
But the downside is that it costs like $100 billion to build and man[1] one there. I doubt the Antarctic place would approach one billion.
[1] Not sure our robotic remote repair technology is up to the task.
Re:For Earthbound, mebbe... (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re:For Earthbound, mebbe... (Score:5, Informative)
Fortunately, it's on a mountain ridge. The smog/fog will go....down.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I just love it when people pronounce as impossible something that's been happening for two years...
Re:For Earthbound, mebbe... (Score:5, Informative)
Since it's so calm, it'll just accumulate, then condense on the cold optics. Have fun seeing when your mirror's frosted over with an inch of rime.
Presumably you put the generator a sufficient distance away to minimize any disturbance to the optics, or to seeing quality. The area gets almost no precipitation and probably no animal life, so anything you lay on the ground will remain undisturbed. In this sense it seems like an ideal place to run an automated telescope, if you can get past the somewhat difficult access issue.
Regarding the "condensing on the optics" problem, astronomers have hundreds of years of experience dealing with this issue. The simplest approach is to slightly warm the optics using resistive heaters. As long as the optics are slightly warmer than the surroundings, any water in the air will condense somewhere else. You don't want too much heating, since then you form convective air currents above the mirror that harm the seeing conditions. However with some reasonably accurate temperature sensors and a feedback controller, the condensation problem is straightforward to solve.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
>>>best spot for observational astronomy has to be the far side of the Moon... What's not to love?
Funny you mention "love" because there's no women on the moon, or on that ridge in Antarctica, which is a major drawback of accepting either of those jobs. Oh wait. It's just like my current job.
Re:For Earthbound, mebbe... (Score:5, Funny)
Aw, the solitude's not so bad. The guy you really gotta feel sorry for is the midget they crammed inside the Hubble to draw everything he saw and drop the pictures back to Earth, message-in-a-bottle style.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
> there's no women on the moon, or on that ridge in Antarctica, which is a major drawback of accepting either of those jobs.
Don't worry, at the end of a highly paid 3 year stint, your replacement will arrive and you will be able to go home a wealthy man...
or will you?
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Funny you mention "love" because there's no women on the moon, or on that ridge in Antarctica, which is a major drawback of accepting either of those jobs. Oh wait. It's just like my current job.
Don't worry - either place will be so cold that you'll need your ID to tell which sex you are.
The absence of women will just mean not to have to contend with PMS on a regular basis.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
The last option is probably the cheapest, but it's st
Re:For Earthbound, mebbe... (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
So there are cows on the moon now?
Re:For Earthbound, mebbe... (Score:4, Informative)
> The moon gets as much sunlight over it's entire surface.
Not at the poles. In fact there is at least one crater near the South pole that is in permanent shadow.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Oh, so that's where they're hiding...
Umm, right. (Score:5, Funny)
Anyhow, we're on to you, Mr. I'm-extraordinarily-antisocial Astronomer. We are not going to support your social avoidance issues with a multimillion dollar playpen. Just take your meds!
Home on Ridge A (Score:5, Funny)
And the frigid astronomers play
Where seldom is heard a single word
And the skies are not cloudy all day
How often at night when the heavens are bright
With the light from the glittering stars
Have I stood there amazed and asked as I gazed
If their glory exceeds that of ours
Home, home on Ridge A
And the frigid astronomers play
Where seldom is heard a single word
And the skies are not cloudy all day
Where the air is so pure, the zephyrs so free
The breezes so calm and light
That I would not exchange my home on Ridge A
For all of the cities so bright
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Antarctica... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Antarctica... (Score:5, Informative)
The Antarctic gate was in storage after being retreived from McMurdo.
The original Giza gate was in use at SGC until it was beamed up into Thor's ship before it crashed into the pacific.
Then the A-Gate became the primary because the G-Gate was thought lost in the Pacific, but it was infact retrieved by the Russians and they ran their own gate program.
It was the A-Gate that was destroyed by Anubis. The G-gate was then purchased back from the Russians after they figured out that Anubis's gate-blower-upper-thingy was destroyed.
Yes, I'm a Gate Geek.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
See: http://en. [wikipedia.org]
obligatory ... (Score:3, Funny)
Hey..I can see my house from here.
Calmest place on earth = Calmest resort on earth! (Score:4, Funny)
The commercial practically writes itself!
Ridge A villas, your ticket to paradise on earth!*
*Ridge A Villas is not responsible for hypothermia, loss of limbs due to gangrene, or Abominable Snowman attacks. Any lawsuit filed against Ridge A Villas must be filed in Antarctica county district court jurisdiction within 90 hours of the incident.
Re:Calmest place on earth = Calmest resort on eart (Score:2)
*Ridge A Villas is not responsible for hypothermia, loss of limbs due to gangrene, or Abominable Snowman attacks. Any lawsuit filed against Ridge A Villas must be filed in Antarctica county district court jurisdiction within 90 hours of the incident.
Pfft, you can disclaim whatever you want. In court, it'll be easy to show that Ridge A Villas are responsible for the Abominable Snowman attacks, due to cutting him out of the mascot deal and resulting merchandising royalties.
Chill out, man (Score:2)
Yea I think that I need some calm spot too. It's too hectic in Boston.
Miles? (Score:5, Funny)
Could someone convert that into a number the rest of the world understands?
Re:Miles? (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Miles? (Score:5, Funny)
Could someone convert that into a number the rest of the world understands?
It's 0x59 miles.
Parent
Re:Miles? (Score:5, Funny)
Could someone convert that into a number the rest of the world understands?
89 metric miles.
Parent
Australian Antarctic Territory ? (Score:5, Informative)
Located within the Australian Antarctic Territory
Note that the USA, Russia, China, and many other countries do not recognize this territory as being in any way Australian.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
But France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom do.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
But what about Vatican City and Liechtenstein?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Located within the Australian Antarctic Territory
Note that the USA, Russia, China, and many other countries do not recognize this territory as being in any way Australian.
Despite the fact that the USA, Russia and China are not even in the southern hemisphere!
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
To be fair, the reasons for not recognizing the territory are ostensibly noble; they theoretically believe that the continent should be treated as a shared resource with limited exploitation (primarily for scientific purposes). Granted, both Russia and the US "reserve the right" to make territorial claims in the future, but to do so they'd have to withdraw from the Antarctic Treaty (which explicitly forbids new territorial claims, and explicitly fails to either recognize or dispute pre-existing claims). I
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Let me remind you how colonialism works. You get to keep whatever you claim and which nobody else can force you to relinquish. All pretence of civilization and legality when it comes to claims of "sovereignty" in cases like this are just that: pretences.
The emptiness of any "legal" claims to sovereignty over Antarctica can readily be seen by the fact that most countries ignore territorial claims and those that do have conflicting claims, yet it makes no difference. Nobody is going to insist on pressing
Wow, that sounds like paradise. Wait.. (Score:5, Funny)
Except for the fact that it's in fucking Antarctica? I think the researchers currently in Hawaii would be pretty annoyed to have to move. :-)
It has at least one thing going for it... (Score:5, Funny)
Sign me up! (Score:2)
What about the Katabatic winds? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:What about the Katabatic winds? (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:What about the Katabatic winds? (Score:4, Informative)
I would guess that it's at one of the high locations where the Katabatic winds start from. They're like avalanches, they aren't bad at the top, just at the bottom.
Parent
no wind or weather there at all (Score:3, Funny)
No weather at all? Wonder what those people will talk about:
- God it's so nothing out there!
- You tell me, I've been out there the whole morning! I can't stand this nothingness anymore...
- Hey, have you seen the snow today? It's kind of yellower today isn't it?
Former Calmest Place (Score:3, Funny)
...because now that it's set a record, it will be full of tourists.
aurora borealis? aka, aurora australis (Score:3, Interesting)
(southern lights)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(astronomy) [wikipedia.org]
wouldn't these auroras make skygazing in antarctica like trying to stargaze in the middle of new york city? (light pollution)
i know they don't go all the time, but at that far south, wouldn't you get them pretty frequently?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(astronomy)#Frequency_of_occurrence [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
The calmest place on earth, duh. Unfortunately it won't help you observe the stars and galaxies unless you mix in some psilocybin or LSD or what have you.
Re: (Score:2)
If you spot reading slashdot, you might find the time and focus to finish your dissertation. Seriously, reading Slashdot too much serves to create an Attention Defecit Disorder. Now if....whoo what's that! I found another open wifi network!...now where was I? Yea...Slashdot is like a bazaar of ideas, but you just went out for milk and bread.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
It's 89 km from Plato [slashdot.org] - a Chinese-Australian robotic observatory at "Dome A".
That's at 80 deg 22' S 77 deg 21' E [unsw.edu.au] and 4093 meters above sea level.
I have to wonder if it's that much better than PLATO that there is a need for 2 observatories 89 km apart.