To study the stars, Frank Wood goes south. To the deep, deep South. Wood, a professor of astronomy at the University of Florida, is in charge of an automated telescope at the South Pole. While other UF professors are enjoying Gainesville's mild temperatures, Wood and his students and colleagues bundle up for minus-100-degree temperatures on their yearly expeditions to the National Science Foundation's Antarctic research station. With its location, Antarctica is perfectly suited to Wood's research. There is little moisture in the atmosphere to distort the starlight, and the nights last for six months.
Through the 'scope, the Floridians study ''variable'' stars, which alternately grow bright and then dim. Despite the cold, they can do so for such long periods without being interrupted by daylight. ''At the pole, the stars never rise and set, and the sun rises and sets only once a year,'' says Wood. ''It's an astronomer's dream.''