Where is the coldest, driest and quietest place on the planet ? American and Australian scientists launched their search a few months ago, using space satellites, weather stations and various climate models. Its objective was to identify the ideal enclave to build an astronomical observatory . And they have found it at Ridge A , a point 4,053 meters above Antarctica with an average winter temperature of 70 degrees Celsius.
The best thing is that the atmosphere in this "astronomical Eden" contains an amount of water equivalent to the thickness of a human hair. Also, there is no turbulence, which makes the starlight not even twinkling . And, of course, in this inhospitable place it is unthinkable to speak of light pollution .
"The astronomical images taken from Ridge A would have at least three times more definition than any obtained so far by astronomers," says Will Saunders, a researcher at the University of New South Wales and co-author of the study. ? Because the sky here is darker and drier, a normal-size telescope would be as powerful as a giant telescope anywhere else on the planet ,? adds Saunders, who has published his findings in the journal Publications of the Astronomical. Society .
