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Astronomers Find the Calmest Place On Earth

Posted by Soulskill on from the i-can-see-clearly-now dept.

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.'"

12 of 231 comments (clear)

  1. For Earthbound, mebbe... by jamstar7 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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?

    --
    Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
    1. Re:For Earthbound, mebbe... by tomhudson · · Score: 5, Interesting

      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.

    2. Re:For Earthbound, mebbe... by NatasRevol · · Score: 5, Informative

      Fortunately, it's on a mountain ridge. The smog/fog will go....down.

      --
      There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
    3. Re:For Earthbound, mebbe... by Stuntmonkey · · 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.

  2. Umm, right. by ColdWetDog · · Score: 5, Funny

    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!

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    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  3. Antarctica... by TheBilgeRat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Isn't that where the second Stargate resides?

  4. Miles? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    89 miles

    Could someone convert that into a number the rest of the world understands?

    1. Re:Miles? by oldspewey · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's 712 furlongs

      --
      If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
    2. Re:Miles? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      89 miles

      Could someone convert that into a number the rest of the world understands?

      It's 0x59 miles.

  5. Australian Antarctic Territory ? by mbone · · 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.

  6. It has at least one thing going for it... by Zantac69 · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...the danger of fire is very low - take note, Mount Wilson Observatory!

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    1331461 is only semiprime *sigh* Alas - I am just short of 1337.
  7. Home on Ridge A by pavon · · Score: 5, Funny

    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