This Might Be the Best Stargazing Spot on Earth, According to Scientists

by Nora McGreevy/Smithsonianmag.com

Scientists have identified what they think is the best place in the world to stargaze—but don’t make any travel plans just yet. Dome Argus or “Dome A,” as the site is known, sits on a high, frigid plateau 746 miles inland on Antarctica.

An international team of scientists, led by Zhaohui Shang with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, studied three sites in the frozen continent—Domes A, F, and C—to figure out which might make the best potential telescope site. Dome A won out, according to a statement.

Researchers measured Dome A’s stargazing potential with a specialized telescope placed on a 26-foot-high platform on the site. The telescope was specially designed to withstand Antarctica’s freezing temperatures, and the entire apparatus was operated remotely by researchers.

As the team wrote in an article in Nature last month, one key feature distinguished Dome A from all the rest: The stars “literally twinkle less” up there, as Brandon Specktor notes for Live Science.

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Biography

Carol Duff, MSN, BA, RN

Carol graduated from Riverside White Cross School of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio and received her diploma as a registered nurse. She attended Bowling Green State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Literature. She attended the University of Toledo, College of Nursing, and received a Master’s of Nursing Science Degree as an Educator.

She has traveled extensively, is a photographer, and writes on medical issues. Carol has three children RJ, Katherine, and Stephen – one daughter-in-law; Katie – two granddaughters; Isabella Marianna and Zoe Olivia – and one grandson, Alexander Paul. She also shares her life with husband Gordon Duff, many cats, and two rescue pups.

Carol’s Archives 2009-2013

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