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Astronomy from the Polar Plateau

The AASTINO at Dome C, on a perfect summer's day. Photo: John Storey

The polar plateaus are extremely cold and dry and the air is very stable. This makes them the best sites on the Earth's surface to conduct a wide range of astronomical observations.

This project aims to quantify these conditions at:

• Summit in Greenland
• Ellesmere Island in Canada
• Domes A and C on the Antarctic plateau

This will begin the process of turning these sites into front-line observatories.

An automated observatory, which can gather data over the winter, is scheduled to be delivered to Dome A through a Chinese-led traverse in the summer of 2007-08.

Related links:

• Poster for the Astronomy from the Polar Plateau [PDF]