Astronomers Find the Calmest Place On Earth 231
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.'"
For Earthbound, mebbe... (Score:5, Interesting)
What about the Katabatic winds? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Australian Antarctic Territory ? (Score:3, Interesting)
But France, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom do.
Re:For Earthbound, mebbe... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:For Earthbound, mebbe... (Score:3, Interesting)
The last option is probably the cheapest, but it's still a significant added expense on the set-up and maintenance of such a station.
Re:For Earthbound, mebbe... (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?
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]