Cosmic rays are extremely energetic charged particles that zoom through space and bombard the Earth’s atmosphere. Since cosmic rays get diverted by magnetic fields on their way to Earth, tracing their origins is more difficult. However, tiny, nearly massless particles called neutrinos, and photons at similar energies, can be used to trace cosmic rays back […]
What’s so funny? Who knows, but a few IceCube folks shared a good laugh out on the ice before leaving the South Pole last week. There were quite a few departures, as the summer season is winding down. There was also a sizeable incoming group—various flight issues had delayed their arrival to the Pole until […]
This week’s aerial photo from the South Pole features a 360-degree view from above the IceCube Lab, taken with a camera mounted to a kite. Spectacular! It was a busy week as usual at the Pole, with Upgrade and IceCube maintenance teams working to wrap up summer season tasks. There was ARA work as well, […]
Since high-energy astrophysical neutrinos were first observed in 2013, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole has continued searching for their elusive sources. So far, evidence of high-energy neutrino emission has been found from the blazar TXS 0506+056, the active galaxy NGC 1068, and most recently, the Milky Way. Still, neutrino emission from these […]
An aeriel view of the IceCube Lab also shows the IceCube Upgrade drill camp in its current state of summer season activity. The Upgrade team has been working steadily over the summer to prepare for next year’s drilling activities. Last week, a group of IceCubers assisted in getting the IceAct telescopes deployed and operational—as good […]
Last week at the Pole continued to be busy with lots of IceCube Upgrade activities. Here’s a different view from the previous week of the cabling progress for the Upgrade, this time with the IceCube Lab seen behind the large spools of cable. Members of the cable pull team took a moment to pose and […]
Wasn’t last week the last week of the year at the South Pole? Hmm, we thought so, but guess not—so this must be it, with activities covering the end of 2024 and reaching into the beginning of 2025. All of the IceCube people at the South Pole got together for a nice group photo on […]
The nature of dark matter—roughly 85% of all matter in the universe—is one of the most important unresolved questions in modern physics. Thus far, no experiment has been able to determine what dark matter is made of. A possible candidate for dark matter are the hypothesized weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), which hardly interact with […]
The last week of the year at the South Pole was as busy as ever, with all kinds of activity, especially with the IceCube Upgrade. The Upgrade crew has been making good, steady progress despite earlier delays with both cargo and personnel. Clear skies, heavy machinery, and large cable spools are an indication of what […]
Another week, another sun halo—this time complete with sun dogs! The ceremonial pole marker blocking the sun gives some added interest to the photo’s composition. Last week was busy at the Pole, especially out at the IceCube Lab, where all kinds of work was going on, including for ARA, IceAct, IceCube’s surface array, and the […]