Related papers: The Science Case for PILOT II: the Distant Univers…

Research activities during the last decade have shown the strong potential of photonic devices to greatly simplify ground based and space borne astronomical instruments and to improve their performance. We focus specifically on the…

Thanks to deep optical to near-IR imaging and spectroscopy, significant progress is made in characterizing the rest-frame UV to optical properties of galaxies in the early universe (z > 4). Surveys with Hubble, Spitzer, and ground-based…

The detection of transiting extrasolar planets requires high-photometric quality and long-duration photometric stellar time-series. In this paper, we investigate the advantages provided by the Antarctic observing platform Dome C for planet…

The Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope-prime (CCAT-prime) is a new 6-m, off-axis, low-emissivity, large field-of-view submillimeter telescope scheduled for first light in the last quarter of 2021. In summary, (a) CCAT-prime uniquely…

Uranus and Neptune, and their diverse satellite and ring systems, represent the least explored environments of our Solar System, and yet may provide the archetype for the most common outcome of planetary formation throughout our galaxy. Ice…

Ultra-High-Energy (UHE, E $>100$ TeV) gamma rays are one of the few channels to search for and study Galactic PeVatrons. Among the most promising PeVatron candidates are the many UHE gamma-ray sources that have recently been identified on…

We summarize the scientific potential of high contrast optical space imaging for studies of extrasolar planets, debris disks, and planet formation. The unique scientific capabilities offered by a 2-m class optical telescope, the technical…

HiPERCAM is a high-speed camera for the study of rapid variability in the Universe. The project is funded by a 3.5MEuro European Research Council Advanced Grant. HiPERCAM builds on the success of our previous instrument, ULTRACAM, with very…

Construction of the cubic-kilometer neutrino detector IceCube at the South Pole has been completed in December 2010. It forms a lattice of 5160 photomultiplier tubes monitoring a gigaton of the deep Antarctic ice for particle induced…

This paper develops a few science cases, using the PRIMA far-IR probe, aimed at achieving several breakthroughs in our understanding of the dust properties and their evolution. We argue that the specific observational capabilities of PRIMA,…

These last years ground-based astronomy has been looking towards Antarctica, especially its summits and the internal continental plateau where the optical turbulence (OT) appears to be confined in a shallow layer close to the surface.…

Understanding the nature of Dark Matter and Dark Energy is one of the most pressing issues in cosmology and fundamental physics. The purpose of the DUNE (Dark UNiverse Explorer) mission is to study these two cosmological components with…

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is an airborne observatory consisting of a specially modified Boeing 747SP with a 2.7-m telescope, flying at altitudes as high as 13.7 km (45,000 ft). Designed to observe at…

Seeing, the angular size of stellar images blurred by atmospheric turbulence, is a critical parameter used to assess the quality of astronomical sites. Median values at the best mid-latitude sites are generally in the range of…

The next major advancement in astronomy and cosmology will be driven by deep observations using very sensitive telescopes with high spatial and spectral resolution capabilities. An international consortium of astronomers, including Indian…

PicSat is a nanosatellite currently being developed to observe the transit of the giant planet \b{eta} Pictoris, expected some time between July 2017 and June 2018. The mission is based on a Cubesat architecture, with a small but ambitious…

Transient astronomy in the early Universe (z > 2) remains largely unexplored, lying beyond the rest-frame optical spectroscopic reach of most current observatories. Yet this regime promises transformative insights, with high-redshift…

At a fraction the total cost of an equivalent orbital mission, scientific balloon-borne platforms, operating above 99.7% of the Earth's atmosphere, offer attractive, competitive, and effective observational capabilities -- namely space-like…

IceCube is a kilometer-scale high energy neutrino telescope under construction at the South Pole, a second-generation instrument expanding the capabilities of the AMANDA telescope. The scientific portfolio of IceCube includes the detection…

The three Antarctic Survey Telescopes (AST3) aim to carry out time domain imaging survey at Dome A, Antarctica. The first of the three telescopes (AST3-1) was successfully deployed on January 2012. AST3-1 is a 500\,mm aperture modified…