Project information
Project aim
The Antarctic plateau provides the best terrestrial location for
infrared and submillimetre astronomy. The best sites lie within the
Australian Antarctic Territory. From them the most sensitive observations of
the faint light from distant stars and galaxies could be made. This program aims to determine where the best site is, and quantify the gains that would be achievable compared to temperate latitude observatories. Our method is to deploy an autonomous observatory, the AASTO, at various sites on the plateau and gather data remotely over the Antarctic winter on the atmospheric conditions that affect the conduct of astronomy.
Related publications
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Concept for a second Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) in Antarctica. SPIE. Proc 2nd Backasog Workshop on Extremely Large Telescopes, Backasog Castle, Sweden, 9-11 September 2003., 2004
(Ref: 11898)
Authors:Category 3: Conference paper
While definitive winter measurements for Dome C must await until 2004, on the basis of existing data the Antarctic … Dome sites promise the best conditions on the Earth for many astronomical observations. Because atmospheric … turbulence is largely confined to a ~ 100 m ground layer…
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Dome C atmospheric conditions: implications for astronomy Acta Astronomica Sinica, 2007
(Ref: 13315)
Category 1: Peer-reviewed literature
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Infrared and sub-millimetre observing conditions on the Antarctic plateau Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia, 2000
(Ref: 9616)
Category 1: Peer-reviewed literature
The Antarctic plateau provides the best terrestrial sites for infrared and sub-millimetre astronomy. In this paper we examine the relative importance of temperature…
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The AASTINO: Automated Astrophysical Site Testing International Observatory. Proceedings of Meeting on Darwin, Heidelberg, April 2003., 2003
(Ref: 11262)
Authors:Category 3: Conference paper
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PLATO Power - a robust, low environmental impact power generation system for the Antarctic plateau Proceedings of SPIE 7012, 70124E1-10, 2008
(Ref: 13764)
Category 3: Conference paper
PLATO (PLATeau Observatory) is the third-generation astronomical site-testing laboratory designed by the University … of New South Wales. This facility is operating autonomously to collect both scientific and site-testing data from … Dome A, the highest point on the Antarctic plateau…