| Alternative names | AST/RO |
|---|---|
| Part of | Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station  |
| Location(s) | Antarctica |
| Coordinates | 89°59′40″S 45°53′00″W / 89.9944°S 45.8833°W |
| Altitude | 2,847 m (9,341 ft) |
| Wavelength | 0.2 mm (1.5 THz)–2.0 mm (150 GHz) |
| First light | January 1995 |
| Decommissioned | December 2005 |
| Telescope style | radio telescope |
| Diameter | 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Replaced by | South Pole Telescope |
  Location of Antarctic Submillimeter Telescope and Remote Observatory | |
Antarctic Submillimeter Telescope and Remote Observatory, or AST/RO, was[1] a 1.7 meter diameter off-axis telescope for research in astronomy and aeronomy at wavelengths between 0.2 and 2 mm. The instrument operated between 1994 and 2005 at the South Pole with four heterodyne receivers and three acousto-optical spectrometers. It was replaced by the 10-m South Pole Telescope.
AST/RO operated as part of the Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica (CARA), an NSF Science and Technology Center. It was funded in 1989 by the NSF Office of Polar Programs after a successful proposal by A. A. Stark, J. Bally, and R. W. Wilson of AT&T Bell Laboratories, T. M. Bania and A. P. Lane of Boston University, and K.-Y. Lo of the University of Illinois.
AST/RO was the first radio telescope on the Antarctica plateau to operate throughout the year. As such, it has played a pioneering role in testing instrumentation, characterizing the site, and developing protocols that have paved the way for newer telescopes to exploit the South Pole: the best location on Earth for observations in the submillimeter band.