Week 19 at the Pole

Colorful auroras filling the sky above the flags at the ceremonial Pole.
Connor Duffy, IceCube/NSF

There they are—those big, expansive, colorful auroras that seem to fill the sky! The highlight for last week at the Pole might have been the auroras, but it’s worth noting that capturing these lovely photographs required braving really cold temperatures and high winds. Still, auroras alone might be enough motivation for some folks to venture outdoors in such unfavorable conditions. Otherwise, work sometimes requires being outside anyway, as when IceCube’s winterovers need to get out to the IceCube Lab (ICL), which they did last week. In that case, you might as well have some entertainment in the skies if you need to make the effort to trek out to the ICL.

Winterover holding a fire extinguisher among racks of computer with lots of exposed orange cables.
Kalvin Moschkau, IceCube/NSF
Colorful auroras filling the sky at the South Pole, with the station to the left in the foreground
Connor Duffy, IceCube/NSF