Antarctica Shines as Icy Bastion of Space
Science
by Charles Q. Choi,
SPACE.com Contributor
Date: 09 December 2011
Time: 12:54 PM ET
Interesting snippets:
Antarctica may be the
bottom of the world, but the coldest, driest, highest continent is the best
place for looking up at the heavens from Earth.
Astronomers are now
carrying out cutting-edge research in the South Pole that could shed light on
the greatest secrets of the universe. [Images: Peering Back to the Big
Bang & Early Universe]
"Amazingly, the
South Pole now ranks with the grand research laboratories such as Fermilab and
CERN," said theoretical physicist Francis Halzen of the University of
Wisconsin-Madison.
Clear
skies
The Antarctic is a land of harsh extremes,
ones that make it perfect in many ways for astronomy.
Antarctica is the coldest continent,
meaning there is less thermal radiation to hamper astronomy that focuses on
infrared light. This cold also makes Antarctica the driest continent, freezing
liquid water on the ground and water vapor out of the air. As such, there is
little water present to interfere with light coming from outer space that
astronomers want to observe.
Antarctica is the
highest continent — its icy surface rises gradually from the coast to a vast
plateau, and the area of ice more than 9,800 feet (3,000 meters) high is nearly
as large as Australia. This elevation also makes Antarctica the windiest
continent — gravity pulls air off the plateau, and the so-called katabatic
winds that result can reach hurricane speeds at the coast. Still, there is
little wind on the highest points of the plateau, and the calmest spot on Earth in terms of wind speeds and lack of major storms
can be found there. Overall, the stable nature of the air there is ideal for
steady stargazing.
The South Pole lies on
the flank of the Antarctic plateau at an elevation of 9,300 feet (2,835
meters). Here, the United States keeps the South Pole Telescope gazing at the
cosmic microwave background — the oldest light in the universe — as well as
millimeter-wave radiation from outer space.
IceCube
The vast amounts of pure
ice in Antarctica make it ideal for absorbing and studying particles from outer
space. For instance, the largest neutrino telescope in the world, IceCube, is
built 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) below the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, and
"transforms deep ice into the largest particle detector ever
constructed," said Halzen, principal investigator of IceCube.
Neutrinos are ghostly
particles that recently have drawn much attention for potentially traveling faster
than light. IceCube will look at neutrinos created from the most
energetic objects in space to help unlock their secrets. [Top 10 Implications
of Faster-Than-Light Neutrinos]
Train
for Mars and Europa
Antarctica is also the
richest source of meteorites on Earth — anything that comes crashing from space
is readily apparent on the otherwise featureless surface, and the cold keeps
the meteorites frozen in nearly pristine conditions. Antarctic meteorites
include rocks that were blasted off Mars long ago by other space rock impacts;
analyzing these meteorites could shed light on whether the Red Planet could have ever hosted life.
Advances
from China
China is building Kunlun
Station at the highest point at the Antarctic plateau at an elevation of 13,395
feet (4,083 m). Chinese researchers have ambitious plans for telescopes that
work in the optical, infrared and terahertz ranges, Burton noted. Australia is
collaborating with them, and has already set up a robotic observatory there, he
added.
"I think it would
be a good idea for U.S. groups to support China's efforts as much as possible
and take part in them if we want to remain a leader in Antarctic
astronomy," Crawford said. "There's going to be exciting work there
in the future."
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