It is one of the biggest telescopes on the planet, yet it looks remarkably small against the vast Antarctic landscape. In this blindingly white icy world where the December sun never sets, it is hard to judge distances. The true size of the South Pole Telescope's 10-metre-wide dish only becomes apparent when our small tracked vehicle pulls up next to the building that houses it. No one considers walking here from the US Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station just a few hundred metres away. While a wind chill of almost -40 ℃ is considered balmy by residents at the station, my fingers grow numb soon after I take off my gloves to snap some pictures. And although I'm wearing goggles that cover half my face, wind-drawn tears freeze onto my eyelids.
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