Introduction to the Antarctic Plateau

Over the past decade there has been remarkable progress in the exploration of the Antarctic plateau for astronomy. Already, major astronomical facilities are in operation at the Amundsen-Scott Station at South Pole, and even more ambitious telescopes are planned or under construction there. However, for a number of important reasons the high plateau sites of Dome A and Dome C appear to offer even more favourable conditions than South Pole for many kinds of astronomy. The success of the Chinese expedition to Dome A in January 2005, plus the opening of the French/Italian Concordia Station at Dome C for year-round operation in 2005, have now created exciting new opportunities for Antarctic astronomy.