The image above was taken by an Axis NetEye 200 camera, mounted in a temperature-controlled plastic dome. From the South Pole the images are sent to UNSW. The AASTO is a self-powered, self-heated observatory that can operate autonomously in Antarctica for up to 12 months at a time. Its purpose is to carry out a comprehensive series of measurements of astronomical observing conditions on the antarctic plateau, providing information for planning new observatory sites for the 21st century.
The AASTO is located at the US Amundsen-Scott South Pole station, within a few hundred metres of the exact geographic South Pole (its precise latitude is -89d 59m). It is connected by fibre optic to world's southernmost telescope - UNSW's Antarctic Fibre Optic Spectrometer (AFOS). The sound you are hearing is coming from the SOund Detection And Ranging (SODAR) instrument located on the roof of the AASTO building. The SODAR uses sound pulses, like the sound you are now hearing, to detect turbulence and measure wind speeds at the South Pole. Unfortunately
it's dark for half the year, but on the bright side it's isolating and depressing either way.
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