AST/RO, the `Antarctic Sub-mm Telescope / Remote Observatory', a 1.7-m diameter sub-mm telescope, was commissioned in 1995. It has surveyed the southern Milky Way in the 492GHz [CI] line, only observable infrequently from other good observing sites. Carbon emission has been found to be widespread and at least as extensive as regions of CO emission. The first detection of [CI] from the Magellanic Clouds has been made.
COBRA, the `Cosmic Background Anisotropy Experiment', using the 0.75-m Python telescope, has reliably reproduced structure observed in the CMBR on angular scales from 0.75 to 5.5 over 4 successive austral summers. Significantly greater anisotropy is detected on degree scales than found by the COBE satellite at 20.
SPIREX, the `South Pole Infrared Explorer', a 60-cm near-IR telescope, was installed in 1994. SPIREX has achieved exceedingly dark backgrounds at 2.4um, as low as 23.5 mags/arcsec2. It enjoyed a nearly uninterrupted view of the collisions of Comet Shoemaker-Levy with Jupiter. Only 4 of 20 events were obscured by clouds.
A comprehensive series of site testing measurements have been conducted at the South Pole, demonstrating the quality of the site. The 25% quartile for ppt HO in winter is 0.19mm, compared to 1.05mm on Mauna Kea. The sky brightness in the 2.29-2.46um window, where airglow emission is minimal, is typically 100umJy/arcsec2, a factor times lower than Mauna Kea. Above a surface inversion layer typically 200m high, the mean visual seeing is 0.36''. The isoplanatic angle is at 2.4um.