Antarctic Astronomy Expedition 1998
University of New South Wales
astronomers at the South Pole
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Media Release - School of Physics
The University of New South Wales
Wednesday 23rd December 1998
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Recently, a team of University of New
South Wales astronomers took a trip to the South Pole! It involved
three different types of aircraft and a 75 degree Celsius drop in
temperature just so they could have the clearest skies on earth.
"It was -55oC when we landed at the South Pole and you
could see forever," said team member John McMahon. The Department
of Astrophysics at The University
of New South Wales in collaboration with the Center for Astrophysical
Research in Antarctica (CARA) is conducting experiments at the South
Pole to prove that the antarctic plateau is the best place on the
earth to do astronomy.
The South Pole is very cold, very dry
and at a high altitude, three factors that determine how well astronomers
can "see" through the atmosphere, especially at infrared wavelengths.
Another benefit of this continent is that the sun goes down in March
and does not come up again until September, allowing prolonged observations.
To enable site testing at several different
locations around the continent a laboratory was constructed that
would fit inside a C130 Hercules aircraft. This laboratory had to
be self contained and support several scientists for short periods
during the summer. Thus the AASTO
(Automated Astrophysical Site Testing Observatory) was born. The
AASTO is a small green "hut" made of fibreglass and run on propane
that houses experiments that measure everything from wind speed
to atmospheric transmission. It currently resides at the South Pole
but is due to be relocated next year to one of the highest and most
inaccessible places on the antarctic plateau: a place known as 'Dome
C'.
There are two teams visiting the Pole
this summer, one in November and the other in January. The first
team consisted of Dr. Andre Phillips, Dr. Mick Edgar and John McMahon.
They were at US Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station for a month upgrading
equipment and performing experiments. "The food and accommodation
provided by our US hosts was first rate", said Dr. Phillips.
The second team will be lead by the
new Head of the School of Physics at The University of New South
Wales, Professor John Storey. He will be accompanied by Dr. Michael
Burton, Dr. Peter Gillingham, Matthew Chamberlain and Daniel Marlay.
They will be installing several new experiments, including an acoustic
radar system to measure wind speeds in the lower atmosphere.
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Image Right : John
McMahon at the South Pole, December 1998.
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Antarctica has the potential to give
astronomers a low cost alternative to space. The conditions are
often comparable to using the Hubble Space Telescope but at a fraction
of the cost. The relative accessibility of Antarctica when compared
to space could lead to the construction of new observatories there,
and lead to exciting insights into the formation of the universe
and its future.
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Further Information
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