Science goals for Antarctic infrared telescopes

Abstract

Over the past few years, site-testing at the South Pole has revealed conditions that are uniquely favorable for IR astronomy. In particular, the exceptionally low sky brightness throughout the near- and mid-IR leads to the possibility of a modest-sized telescope achieving comparable sensitivity to that of existing 8-10 meter class telescopes. An 8m Antarctic telescope, if constructed, would yield performance that would be unrivaled until the advent of the NGST. In this paper we review the scientific potential of IR telescopes in Antarctica, and discuss their complementarity with existing 8-10m class telescopes.