Minimol disturbance

from the otrnosphere

Dome Crdvery Location:Antarctic
ond far from lightond
highPlateau
promising site Altitude:3233metres
chemicalpollution
cousedby humon or
for astrophysics volconicoctivities

The dream of astronomersis to

Lowest temperature
Cold,dryond stoble
observefrom an ideal,highly recorded: - 81.9
"C rl otmosphere.' occessto
transparentand stablesite,far Very little absorption
new wavelengths ond
awayfrom any sourcesof human or scattering
(aerosols,water vapour) the obilityto image
pollution.On the Antarctic Plateau,
in the atmosphere ostrophysicolobjectsot
Dome C benefitsfrom exceptional higherongulor
Low wind at ground \ÈL-
atmosphericconditionswhich level resolution
make it particularlypromisingfor
astronomy,in between sPace Uniqueopportunityto
Latitude:75" South
and the best current monitorcontinuously
Clear sky: more than
ground-based observatories. the photometricand
85 % of the time
For severalapplications,the Tirrbulent layer of
spectrometric
French-ltalianstation Concordia approximately variotionsof the Sun
could challengespacemissionsand 30-metre height and stors overseverol
months'
allow the deploymentof much
larger instrumentsat lower cost.
Thus,a programmeto qualif the
site for astronomyis carried out No odditionalspurious
light causedby the
since2000 by various international
ouroroduring
teams.
observotions

An ambitious proiect for

the next decade
ARENA is a consortium of 22
The Concordiostotion hos been built under o biloterolcolloborotionbetweenthe
European and Australian partners
Frenchond ltolion Polor Agencies,IPEVond PNM, respecavely. Sincethe first includingpolar institutes,research
winteroverin 2005,it is one of threestotionsoperotedyeor-roundin the interiorof laboratoriesand industrialcompanies, e
t9
theAntoraic continenL funded by the EuropeanCommissionfor a ê
period of 4 yearsstârting in 2006.The
22 oartners Laboratory H. Fizeauof CNRS locatedat z
.;]
Germany the Universityof Nice SophiaAntipolis E
United Kingdom Belgium . MPIA,Heidelberg coordinatesthis network.lts main
. University of Exeter . Université de Liège . AstrophysikalischesInstitut Potsdam
. AMOS, Liège . DLR, Berlin
objectiveis to set up an ambitious
programmeof developmentfor an *
Australia internationalastronomical observatory,
. University of New South Wales, 9
including: I

France .The assessment of Dome C for

. CNRS (coordinator),Nice
-
. lnstitut Paul EmileVictor, Brest astronomy and the disseminationof the
. Observatoire de Paris site qualificationdatathrough the Internet, '=
. CFA| Saclay .The identification of the key
. SESO,Aix en Provence Ê
. ThalesAlenia Space,Toulouse astrophysical programmes that would I
. SHAKTIWARE, Marseille take maximum benefitfrom the site in
!

Portugal
synergywith other largeground-based g
o
. Centro deAstrofisica da Universidade do observatoriesand spacemission{
.The characterization and z
Spain l
. Universidad de Granada . INAE Roma preliminary studies of large I

. CSIC.Barcelona . Università degli Studi di Perugia instrumentsunder the constraintsof a É

. lnstituto deAstrofisica de Canarias, . Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide'
harsh and fragile polar environment. é.
La iÀ
Bologna e
 Dome C
ingfundomentol
oddress
guestlon
ostrophyslcol s
Investigotingthe formation of the Universe
The oldest accessiblelight that the Universe radiated,some 380,000years after the Big Bang,is called the ,\
Cosmic MicrowaveBaclground (CMB). lt representsthe footprint of the primordial Universeand containsfine
! _ t; r
details (inhomogeneities,polarization) that reveal maior aspects of the formation and early evolution of the
Universe.Thanksto the uniquetransparencyand stabilityof Dome C atmosphere,the BMIN, COCHISE and
AST instrumentswill allow the most preciseanalysisof this radiationfrom the ground to provide answersto
two maior issuesof contemporary cosmology.
tnflation: during the very first fractions of a second of its existence,the Universe expandedexponentially.
il
Cosmologists seek to detect the traces of these epoch in the tiny fluctuations of the CMB.
(J'llBrodiotion fluctuotio
ns Dark energy: recent measurementshaveshown that the expansionof the Universeis accelerating,"pushed" :,.
by an energy opposed to gravity.To understand the evolution of this energy with time, cosmologists are 1 l i
studying the effects that massiveclusters of galaxies,formed at various epochs,produce on the CMB.

Understonding star ond galaxy formation

The improved access to infrared and submillimetre-waveatmospheric windows at Dome C allows
astronomersto study the earlieststagesof stellar life when they are still hidden in their parent cloud of dust
and gas.By observing very young objecS in increasinglyremote galaxies,astronomers can trace the cosmic
history of star formation in the Universe and how it has been evolvingwith time. Maior targets for future large
infrared and submillimetre-wavetelescopes in Antarctica, such as PILOT and AST,are:
Protostars in giant clouds of the MilÇWay:the astronomers want to investigate at large scale the
distribution of their properties and masses,and to study the physicalconditionsgoverningthe collapseof a
cloud ofgas and dust under the effect ofgravity.
The Magellanic Glouds: our neighbouringgalaxiescan be observed under oPtimal conditionsfrom Dome
C.They cànstitute unique targets for the investigationin great detail of the star formation Processand history
in galaxiesthat feature very different chemical ProPerties from our MilkyWay'
Ultra-luminous galaxies: these very remote galaxieslocated between 9 and I I billion light-yearsawayfrom Stellorfurmotion
our solar systememit the bulk of their energy in the infrared range.Tounderstandthe source of this Cosmic (herein the LargeMogellonkCloud)
lnfrared Background(CIRB) would enable us to know more about the formation mechanismsof stars and
galaxiesin the early Universe.

Probing the interior arndotmosqhere of the Sun ond stors

Thanks to its high latitude, Dome C is ideally located for long-duration and high-precisiontime-series
measurementsof the Sun and stars over uninterrupted periods of weeks and months'The goal is to better
understandthe nature and the physicsof the internal enginethat produce the energy of a star,how it varieswith
time and how lighqenergy and matter are releasedto chromosphere,corona and circumstellarenvironment.
The Sun: our star constitutes an exceptional laboratory to test models of stellar structure. Helioseismology'
aimed at measuring and interpreting the pulsation modes of the Sun, has been invented from Antarctic
observations.Theheatingmechanismsof the solar chromosphereand inner corona,the direct measurementsof
the magneticfield and srructures,will be addressedby speciallydesignedinstruments(ADSllC) oPeratingunder a
"coronal" that frequentlyoccur above Dome C'
uniquelystableand clear sÇ some conditionscalled
Life and evolution of stars: to understand the evolution of stars throughout their life, it is necessaryto know
more about their inner source of energy and thus astronomers want to probe the interior of stars. For that
purpose,they use a techniquecomparableto seismologyby measuringthe star'spulsationmodes'
Death of stars: the final stageof a star's life is characterized by a strong massloss of gas and dust.This matter that
will give rise to future stellar and planetarysystems,is most easilyobservedin the infraredand submillimetre-wave
range.ThelRAlI PILOT andAST instrumentswill measureit.

Discoverîng new woilds,ond Possible extraterrestriol troces of life

The recent discovery of planets located outside our solar systeir has renewed the question ofthe origins of Life.
The understandingof the links between the characteristicsof a star and its planetary companions has become one
of the major goals of contemporary astrophysics.Theunigue atmospheric stability and transparency of the Dome
C "t.ospÎ".é will allow the discovery of new extrasolar planetary systems and their ProPerties using a range of
instrumenrs that spansfrom small telescopes (A STEBICE-T) to large interferometric arrays (KEOPS).
Counting extrasolar planets and probing their atmospheres: through a catalogue of a large sample of
planetary systems and their characteristics (size, mass, orbital radius and period, atmospheric chemical
composition), astronomers will be able to explain the formation of planetary systemswithin dust clouds.
Exo-Earths:one of the ultimate goals of the instruments of the future such as KEOPS will be to image a planet
comparable to our Earth,and to detect chemical speciesthat are possible life markers.