South Pole Offers Prime Astronomy Real Estate

The middle of the world's most remote and inhospitable continent may not seem like an ideal place to conduct complicated scientific research, but this photo shows how the South Pole offers advantages that astronomers and other researchers just can't find anywhere else. The photo, captured above the new elevated station at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in July 2009, is a 20-minute exposure revealing the southern celestial axis - the white cloudy streak is the Milky Way. Only at the North and South Poles will you witness a phenomenon exactly like this, as the stars' 'movement' across the sky demonstrates the Earth's rotation in stunning detail.

Image credit: Patrick Cullis, National Science Foundation