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Concordia Research Station, Dome Circe, Antarctic Plateau, Antarctica
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Concordia Station has been identified as a suitable location for extremely accurate astronomical observations. The transparency of the Antarctic atmosphere permits the observation of stars even when the sun is at an elevation angle of 38°. Other advantages include the very low infrared sky emission, the high percentage of cloud-free time and the low aerosol and dust content of the atmosphere.
Writing in the Proceedings of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Karim Agabi et al. discuss the suitability of the site for astronomy in terms of the seeing. Their key finding:
The median seeing measured with a DIMM (Differential Image Motion Monitor) placed on top of an 8.5 m high tower is 1.3±0.8 arcseconds.
This is significantly worse than most major observatory sites, but similar to other observatories in Antarctica. However, Lawrence et al. consider other features of the site and conclude that "Dome C is the best ground-based site to develop a new astronomical observatory". Note however that this was written before whole-atmospheric seeing measurements had been made at Dome C.
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