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Projects > A - C > ASTROPOLES

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ASTROPOLES  

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  • Short Title: AstroPoles Proposal URL: http://classic.ipy.org/development/eoi/proposal-details.php?id=124 It has long been recognised that the polar plateaus provide the best sites on the Earth's surface for the conduct of a wide range of astronomical observations, from optical to millimetre wavelengths. This is on account of the extremely cold, dry and stable air found there. The exceptional site conditions would allow observations to be made of the cosmos, with greater sensitivity and clarity, and across a wider part of the electromagnetic spectrum, than from temperate-latitude sites. This IPY project aims to quantify these conditions at four sites, Summit in Greenland, Ellesmere Island in Canada, and Domes A and C on the Antarctic plateau, and then to begin the process of turning these sites into frontline observatories. Dome A is likely to be the pre-eminent location on the Earth for observational astronomy, but has only recently been visited by humans (China in 2005). Dome C is the site for a new station (France/Italy, fully operational in 2005), and already shows indications for better seeing conditions than for any existing observatory. Summit Station (Denmark/USA) and Ellesmere Island (Canada) are also extremely cold and dry. They are the best prospective observing sites in the northern polar regions and their conditions have not yet been quantified. The project builds upon a decade of site testing experience, at both the South Pole and at Dome C, including the development of autonomous observatories that can gather the data over the winter. In particular, it will make use of AASTINOs (Automated Astrophysical Site Testing International Observatories) to conduct a range of experiments at each site, and to transmit the data to their operations centres via satellite phones. Measurements made will include the sky brightness (auroral in the optical, thermal emission in the infrared), the optical seeing and the transparency, precipitable water vapour content and microturbulence levels in the atmosphere, as well as the meteorological conditions. These will provide the baseline data needed to quantitatively assess what future astronomical facilities could be built in the polar regions, and the science programs they could tackle. The AASTINO's and their experimental suites will need to be brought to the four sites by overland traverse or by air transportation, with the scientists taken in by air to assemble them. While the sites have not been fully characterised, it is already clear that the Antarctic plateau sites are superior to any existing observatories for a range of frontline experiments. This IPY project will also be used to instigate pathfinder experiments aimed at tackling fundamental problems in astrophysics, in particular to test enabling technologies that will make them possible. These experiments will, in turn, lead to the development of new frontline facilities beyond the IPY. The science program we would conduct with these facilities includes measurements of the polarization of the cosmic microwave radiation background resulting from the Big Bang, the use of optical and infrared telescopes to examine the formation of galaxies, sub-millimetre and terahertz frequency telescopes and interferometers to probe the dense molecular clouds where stars are born, the search for other earth-like planets in the Galaxy using interferometric and microlensing techniques, and the measurement of the earthshine from the Moon to probe the variations in the Earth's albedo, primarily resulting from changing cloud cover. A critical design review of the project will be held during the SCAR meeting in Hobart in 2006. An international science meeting on Astronomy in the Polar Regions will also be organised for 2007, possibly in the UK or Greenland. (en)

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https://gcmd.earthdata.nasa.gov/kms/concept/bbf5341a-145d-42d6-9221-a3eafb2df283

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