According to new research published this week in Nature, the best location for astronomical observations is at Dome A, the highest point on the Antarctic plateau. However, the researchers warn, scientists who want to establish a camp in this place will have to face a great challenge: not only will they have to travel 1,200 kilometers inland from the Antarctic continent, but they will also have to deal with the temperatures of one of the coldest places on Earth, which reach up to 90 degrees Celsius, as occurs during the nights on Mars.
One of the main metrics to observe to detect these privileged locations, explains the article, is the astronomical visibility, which refers to distortion of the night sky and is measured in arcseconds. The lower the number, the lower the atmospheric turbulence, and therefore the better the view of stars, galaxies, and nebulae.
While in Hawaii and Chile, the astronomical visibility number is 0.6 to 0.8 arcseconds, in Dome C, another ice dome located on the Antarctic plateau, this number ranges from 0.23 to 0, 36 arc seconds, highlighting the icy continent as a ideal place to see the night sky. Here, the boundary layer, the lowest part of Earth’s atmosphere, is exceptionally thin, resulting in less turbulence.
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At Domo Argus, as it is also known to domo A, there is even better visibility. An international team of scientists from China, Canada and Australia performed night measurements at this location, something that had not been done before, and found an average astronomical visibility number of 0.31 arcseconds and a minimum of 0.13 seconds of arc.
“A telescope located in Dome A could surpass a similar telescope located in any other astronomical point on the planet”explained Paul Hickson, an astronomer at the University of British Columbia and co-author of the study. “The combination of high altitude, low temperature, long periods of continuous darkness and an exceptionally stable atmosphere make Dome A a very attractive place for optical and infrared astronomy. A telescope located there would have sharper images and could detect weaker objects, “he said.
In addition to being a strategic point for astronomy, Dome A “is a natural laboratory for studies of formation and dissipation of turbulence within the boundary layer”The authors wrote in their article. “Future measurements of the climate, astronomical visibility and low-altitude turbulence profile could contribute to a better understanding of the Antarctic atmosphere”.
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