South Pole
The southernmost point on Earth’s surface, where the planet’s rotational axis meets Antarctica. It lies on the Antarctic Plateau, far from the coast.
Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station: A United States research station at the geographic South Pole, occupied year-round since 1957. The station supports scientific work at the pole and marks its continuously inhabited research presence.
Earth's rotation: Earth’s rotation is its spin around an axis running through the geographic North and South Poles. The rotational axis defines the geographic South Pole.
Antarctic exploration: The exploration of Antarctica by sea, land, and air, from early voyages to modern scientific expeditions. The race to reach the South Pole became a defining episode in Antarctic exploration.
South Pole Telescope: A 10-meter radio telescope at Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, built to observe the cosmic microwave background. The pole’s dry, stable atmosphere supports observations at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths.
South Pole of Inaccessibility: The point in Antarctica farthest from the Southern Ocean coastline. It is an inland extreme, but it is not the southernmost point or the rotational pole.
Roald Amundsen: A Norwegian explorer who led the first expedition to reach the geographic South Pole, in December 1911. His expedition reached the pole before Robert Falcon Scott’s party.
Geographic coordinate system: A system that locates places on Earth using latitude and longitude. The pole is the endpoint of latitude 90° south, where longitude is undefined.
Terra Nova Expedition: Robert Falcon Scott’s British Antarctic expedition of 1910–1913, which reached the South Pole in 1912. Its southern party arrived weeks after Amundsen’s and perished on the return journey.
IceCube Neutrino Observatory: A neutrino detector embedded in Antarctic ice near Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. The ice around the pole serves as a vast detection medium for high-energy neutrinos.
South Geomagnetic Pole: The point in the Southern Hemisphere where Earth’s magnetic dipole axis intersects its surface. It is a magnetic-field reference point, not the geographic South Pole.