South Pole Telescope...

Here's something I completely missed when it went operational in 2007, and somehow I've never run into it since: an advanced radio telescope with a 10 meter diameter antenna, located right at the South Pole (at the Amundsen-Scott Pole Station).  It's called, simply, the South Pole Telescope., and it's regularly delivering quality science data.

This is an interesting piece of science kit.  The antenna is cooled to reduce background noise.  At the pole, of course, it's located in one of the quietest (in the radio noise sense) places on Earth.  One little construction detail that amused me: at the poles, an alta-azimuthal mount is basically the same thing as an equatorial mount – making the construction of the South Pole Telescope a bit simpler.

You can read more about it on the telescope's home page, or on its blog...