Posted on 09/05/2009 6:02:42 PM PDT by JoeProBono
The search for the best observatory site in the world has lead to the discovery of what is thought to be the coldest, driest, calmest place on Earth — a place where no human is thought to have ever set foot.
To search for the perfect site to take pictures of the heavens, a U.S.-Australian research team combined data from satellites, ground stations and climate models in a study to assess the many factors that affect astronomy — cloud cover, temperature, sky-brightness, water vapor, wind speeds and atmospheric turbulence.
The researchers pinpointed a site, known simply as Ridge A, that is 13,297 feet (4,053 meters) high up on the Antarctic Plateau on the continent at the bottom of the world. The study revealed that Ridge A has an average winter temperature of minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 70 degrees Celsius) and an extremely low amount of water in the air.
The site is also extremely calm, which means that there is very little of the atmospheric turbulence that elsewhere makes stars appear to twinkle. "It's so calm that there's almost no wind or weather there at all," said study leader Will Saunders, of the Anglo-Australian Observatory in Australia.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
Sure. Like the EnviroWeenies will let us TOUCH it, LOL!
Hillary?
So the team went there and left behind their Granola Bar wrappers?
LOL.
And empty pizza boxes, OL! :)
I was thinking between BO’s ears...
Ping for later...
I’ve been in -50 F in Canada. It’s very calm at those temps. And the distortion of sound is amazing. You can hear things from great distances.
Henny Youngman said it best ...
I was sure they would have a crotch shot of Pelosi!
The coldest, yes, but not the driest or calmest. I saw a Hillary doll not long ago. It was formed out of molded, hard plastic, and it actually had a spooky, lifelike quality.
Delivery or Dejorno?
That depends on Who Goes There?
Too bad none of the interesting constellations are in the Southern Hemisphere. I mean, you can only look at the Southern Cross for so long...
LOL!
I’m originally from MN... “Cold” can officially be considered, “weather” - and it’s bad. Now, I live in San Diego. It’s calm....and 90 some degrees ABOVE zero...THAT’s MUCH better. And, just for the record, I like my stars to be able to twinkle.
Ahhhhh. I was hoping you knew the old Campbell story.
Hard to believe it’s over 70 years old yet it can still make me squirm...
Will Australia take jihadi detainess and put them there?
Please, enlighten me (I’m only 63 LOL!). Not sure about the Campbell reference. ;-)
Same here, been in -50 in Canada (Quebec) ... my car started right up but I couldn't move the gearshift (5-speed manual) until warmth got to the gearbox ... oh, and the case of Molson Brador's in the trunk froze solid and some bottles exploded :(
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