Solar polar astronomy

Abstract

The South Pole might at first glance seem a most unlikely spot for solar astronomy – but in fact there are many advantages to the siting of a laboratory above 9200 feet of glacial ice on a featureless snow plain. The most important of these is the fact that the sun rises in mid-September and does not set until mid–March, and there are many relatively clear and cloudless days – in contrast to conditions at the North Pole.