scholarly journals A Next Generation Deep 2-μm Survey: Reconnoitering the Dark Ages

2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Mould
Keyword(s):  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Antarctic Plateau ◽  
Dark Ages ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
Infrared Surveys ◽  
A Site ◽  
Large Telescopes ◽  
The Antarctic

AbstractThe next generation 2-μm sky survey should target nascent galaxies in the epoch of reionization for spectroscopic followup on large telescopes. A 2.5-m telescope at a site on the Antarctic plateau has advantages for this purpose and for southern hemisphere infrared surveys in general.

The Scientific Potential for Astronomy from the Antarctic Plateau: A Report prepared by the Australian Working Group for Antarctic Astronomy

1994 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Burton ◽  
D. K. Aitken ◽  
D. A. Allen ◽  
M. C. B. Ashley ◽  
M. G. Burton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antarctic Plateau ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Scientific Potential ◽  
A Site ◽  
Large Telescopes ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Engineering Constraints ◽  
The Universe

Our knowledge of the universe comes from recording the photon and particle fluxes incident on the Earth from space. We thus require sensitive measurement across the entire energy spectrum, using large telescopes with efficient instrumentation located on superb sites. Technological advances and engineering constraints are nearing the point where we are recording as many photons arriving at a site as is possible. Major advances in the future will come from improving the quality of the site. The ultimate site is, of course, beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, such as on the Moon, but economic limitations prevent our exploiting this avenue to the degree that the scientific community desires. Here we describe an alternative, which offers many of the advantages of space for a fraction of the cost: the Antarctic Plateau.

scholarly journals Astronomy from Antarctica

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 555-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.W.V. STOREY
Keyword(s):  
Absolute Humidity ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
Antarctic Plateau ◽  
Earth Like Planets ◽  
Remote Sites ◽  
Large Telescopes ◽  
New Generation ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
City Centres ◽  
Optical Telescopes

Astronomers have always sought the very best locations for their telescopes. From observatories in city centres, astronomers moved first to nearby mountain tops, then to remote sites in distant countries, to aircraft, and into space. In the past decade we have come to realize that the best astronomical observing conditions on the surface of the earth are to be found on the Antarctic plateau. The combination of high altitude, low temperature, low absolute humidity, low wind and extremely stable atmosphere offers astronomers gains in sensitivity and measurement precision that can exceed two orders of magnitude over even the best temperate sites. In addition, spectral windows are opened up – particularly in the far-infrared and terahertz regions – that are otherwise only accessible from high-flying aircraft or from space. Established and highly successful telescopes at the South Pole are soon to be joined by a new generation of facilities at Concordia Station, including large telescopes and interferometers. It has even been suggested that the largest optical telescopes currently proposed, with diameters of up to 100 m, might achieve their science goals at a lower overall cost if they are built on the Antarctic plateau rather than at a temperate site. Such telescopes offer the possibility of not only detecting earth-like planets in other star systems, but also of analysing their atmospheres spectroscopically.

scholarly journals Extremely Large Telescopes on the Antarctic plateau

2005 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 956-957
Author(s):  
J.S. Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive Optics ◽  
Turbulence Structure ◽  
Large Telescope ◽  
Dome A ◽  
Antarctic Plateau ◽  
Guide Star ◽  
Laser Guide ◽  
Large Telescopes ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Adaptive Optics System

AbstractThe primary limitation to the performance of any large ground-based telescope is the atmospheric properties of its site, particularly the sky emission and the turbulence structure. There are several sites on the Antarctic plateau (South Pole, Dome C and Dome A) for which the increase in infrared sensitivity relative to a mid-latitude site should be as much as two orders of magnitude. The unique turbulent structure above Dome C indicates that an extremely large telescope equipped with only a natural guide star adaptive optics system should achieve equivalent resolution to a mid-latitude extremely large telescope with a multi-conjugate multi-laser guide star system.

The influence of Antarctic topography on jet streams and Rossby waves in the Southern Hemisphere.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Patterson ◽  
Tim Woollings ◽  
Tom Bracegirdle
Keyword(s):  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Rossby Wave ◽  
Rossby Waves ◽  
Wave Structure ◽  
South Pacific ◽  
Substantial Effect ◽  
The South ◽  
Coriolis Parameter ◽  
Antarctic Plateau ◽  
The Antarctic

<p>Eddy-driven jets are sustained through momentum transport by Rossby waves, which propagate along potential vorticity (PV) gradients. In the atmosphere, spatial variations in time-mean PV are mostly dominated by the variation of the Coriolis parameter with latitude. However, at high southern latitudes, a significant perturbation to the distribution and mixing of PV is provided by the Antarctic Plateau, which rises up to 4km above sea level. It is therefore possible that this orography affects Rossby wave propagation and hence affects the circulation in mid-latitudes.</p><p>We show through a set of semi-realistic and idealised experiments, that Antarctic topography plays a fundamental role in shaping the structure of the Southern Hemisphere extratropics. In particular, we perform runs with and without the Antarctic Plateau and demonstrate that the Plateau alters Rossby wave structure and propagation, thereby changing the momentum fluxes. Removal of the Plateau weakens the Indian Ocean jet and has a substantial effect on the flow downstream over the South Pacific. Here, the characteristic split jet pattern is destroyed and the flow at high latitudes stagnates. This also illustrates the prevalence of downstream development in the Southern Hemisphere and the strong connections between the flow over the South Pacific and Indian Oceans.   </p>

scholarly journals Site testing on the Greenland Ice Cap

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (H15) ◽  
pp. 634-635
Author(s):  
M. I. Andersen ◽  
K. Pedersen ◽  
A. N. Sørensen
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Site Testing ◽  
Free Atmosphere ◽  
Testing Program ◽  
Antarctic Plateau ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
A Site ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Arctic Summer

AbstractWe present a site testing program initiated at the SUMMIT station on the Greenland Ice Cap. A DIMM was mounted in the SWISS tower, 39 m above the ice level, during a period of 3 weeks in the late Arctic summer 2008. Tracking Polaris, the DIMM obtained continuous seeing measurements. The campaign was hampered by poor weather and the measured seeing was fluctuating, suggesting that the boundary layer was very unstable. However, during short periods, the un-calibrated seeing went below 0″.5, indicating that the free atmosphere seeing above Greenland is not significantly different from what is found above the Antarctic plateau.

Southern Hemisphere Seti Survey: Five Years of Project Meta II

1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 611-621
Author(s):  
Guillermo A. Lemarchand ◽  
Fernando R. Colomb ◽  
E. Eduardo Hurrell ◽  
Juan Carlos Olalde
Keyword(s):  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Scattering Theory ◽  
Galactic Plane ◽  
Narrow Band ◽  
Neutral Hydrogen ◽  
Sky Survey ◽  
Inertial Frames ◽  
Interstellar Scattering ◽  
Extraterrestrial Origin ◽  
Spectral Channels

AbstractProject META II, a full sky survey for artificial narrow-band signals, has been conducted from one of the two 30-m radiotelescopes of the Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía (IAR). The search was performed near the 1420 Mhz line of neutral hydrogen, using a 8.4 million channels Fourier spectrometer of 0.05 Hz resolution and 400 kHz instantaneous bandwidth. The observing frequency was corrected both for motions with respect to three astronomical inertial frames, and for the effect of Earths rotation, which provides a characteristic changing signature for narrow-band signals of extraterrestrial origin. Among the 2 × 1013spectral channels analyzed, 29 extra-statistical narrow-band events were found, exceeding the average threshold of 1.7 × 10−23Wm−2. The strongest signals that survive culling for terrestrial interference lie in or near the galactic plane. A description of the project META II observing scheme and results is made as well as the possible interpretation of the results using the Cordes-Lazio-Sagan model based in interstellar scattering theory.

An Antarctic shelf population of the deep-sea, Pacific brachiopod Neorhynchia strebeli

1997 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 399-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
David K.A. Barnes ◽  
Lloyd S. Peck
Keyword(s):  
Deep Sea ◽  
Growth Function ◽  
Weddell Sea ◽  
Von Bertalanffy ◽  
Growth Rings ◽  
Von Bertalanffy Growth Function ◽  
Annual Periodicity ◽  
A Site ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Order Rhynchonellida

Thirty-five specimens of the articulate brachiopod Neorhynchia strebeli were collected from a site at 814 m in the Weddell Sea. This was only the second species of the order Rhynchonellida to be found in Antarctica. Formerly N. strebeli was known solely from abyssal Pacific Ocean localities. A circumantarctic distribution is suggested in addition to the known deep-sea Pacific range. The specimens of this collection showed considerable commissure variation, suggesting that the previously proposed erection of two subspecies on the basis of this character is erroneous, and emphasises the phenotypic plasticity of some articulate brachiopods. The valve lengths and the number of alpha growth rings in the sample showed a normal distribution and a von Bertalanffy growth function was fitted to the data: Lt = 23 (1-exp[-0·228t]). If the alpha growth rings were of annual periodicity, the ages attained by the Antarctic N. strebeli of 11 y would be substantially lower than those reported for other Weddell Sea brachiopods. The epibiotic communities occurring on the valves of N. strebeli were impoverished, which is characteristic of deep water Antarctic brachiopods. The few specimens collected with their substratum were attached to small pebbles, but the typical attachment substrata may be different.

scholarly journals The growth of sublimation crystals and surface hoar on the Antarctic plateau

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1205-1215 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-C. Gallet ◽  
F. Domine ◽  
J. Savarino ◽  
M. Dumont ◽  
E. Brun
Keyword(s):  
Energy Budget ◽  
Temperature Drop ◽  
Snow Surface ◽  
Surface Mass ◽  
Antarctic Plateau ◽  
Time Variations ◽  
Sunny Weather ◽  
Frost Flowers ◽  
Snow Model ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. On the Antarctic plateau, precipitation quantities are so low that the surface mass budget is for an important part determined by exchanges of water vapor between the snow surface and the atmosphere surface. At Dome C (75° S, 123° E), we have frequently observed the growth of crystals on the snow surface under calm sunny weather. Here we present the time variations of specific surface area (SSA) and density of these crystals. Using the detailed snow model Crocus, we conclude that the formation of these crystals was very likely due to the nighttime formation of surface hoar crystals and to the daytime formation of sublimation crystals. These latter crystals form by processes similar to those involved in the formation of frost flowers on young sea ice. The formation of these crystals impacts the albedo, mass and energy budget of the Antarctic plateau. In particular, the SSA variations of the surface layer can induce an instantaneous forcing at the snow surface up to −10 W m−2 at noon, resulting in a surface temperature drop of 0.45 K. This result confirms that snow SSA is a crucial variable to consider in the energy budget and climate of snow-covered surfaces.

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