Can someone help me find the names of the Antarctic very clear sky zones?

[MKHACHFE]

HI all,

I remember reading not long ago about certain zones in Antarctica where the sky is supposedly so clear its almost like being in space. Hyperbole aside, I absolutely cannot find anything on Google. 

Does anyone know what I am talking about or did I imagine this article? As far as recall there were 2 or 3 ares that had very technical names...

 

Thanks

[Paul M]

Much of the interior of Antarctica is at altitude and both of Earth's polar regions are technically deserts so, altitude and low humidity = transparency.

Beware, it's chilly atop the Antarctic icecap. 

Oh, and aligning on Polaris is difficult...

[Craney]

Not heard of these specifically.   Were these 'hypothetical' locations, as in they seemed to have the best of conditions  or  were they where an actual telescope has been sited ?

The only optical scope I have heard of for research purposes and of any great size were these.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica_Schmidt_telescopes

Finding anywhere that is sufficiently free from cloud, wind and the the associated spin-drift would be a challenge.  There are  'Dry-valleys'  in Antarctica that push the concept of desert to the extreme, maybe it is one of them.

Are you sure it was optical ?  I can image radio and microwave wavebands being clear of noise and interference down there, and so may resemble space.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/1007.2225.pdf

South Pole station (Scott-Amunsen) is at quite a substantial altitude (9000ft)  and gets a good 4 months of dark skies..    Logistical supply is good too.

Hope this helps.

 

Sean.

 

[MKHACHFE]

Thanks for the replies. Just to be clear, Im not asking because I'm planning a trip there...I'm just curious to read more about the subject.

To answer the second posters question, yes the zones had specific names, but they were vague technical names...I cannot remember any other details other than they were specific anomalies in terms of sky clarity and depth.

I specifically recall one zone supposedly having such dark and clean skies that the view was almost the same as Hubble sees (in terms of depth visible and darkness)

Sorry to be so vague. I wish I could recall even the slightest detail as that would make googling far easier.

Thanks again for replying.

 

[MKHACHFE]

Thanks for the replies. Just to be clear, Im not asking because I'm planning a trip there...I'm just curious to read more about the subject.

To answer the second posters question, yes the zones had specific names, but they were vague technical names...I cannot remember any other details other than they were specific anomalies in terms of sky clarity and depth.

I specifically recall one zone supposedly having such dark and clean skies that the view was almost the same as Hubble sees (in terms of depth visible and darkness)

Sorry to be so vague. I wish I could recall even the slightest detail as that would make googling far easier.

Thanks again for replying.

 

[MKHACHFE]

Finally found what I was talking about.

RIDGE A

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridge_A

I quote from the article:

"Researchers on the project suggested that photographs taken through a telescope at Ridge A could be nearly as good as those taken by the Hubble Space Telescope"

 

 

Cheers

Edited April 17, 2020 by MKHACHFE
Added quote