And then…the auroras start to get bigger and brighter. Unfortunately, the weather last week at the Pole was mostly bad, clearing up only at the end of the week. That was enough, though, for IceCube winterover Ilya to get outside and capture a few nice aurora photos. It often happens this way, with the first […]
Last week had a mix of quiet days and less quiet days at the Pole. There was a monthly emergency response team drill as well as various IceCube detector tasks. IceCube winterover Ilya also trekked out to the South Pole Telescope, where he captured the above photo, which shows a bright moon nicely centered above […]
Aww, that first aurora of the season—often rather light and wispy, here stretching across a sky that is still lit up to some degree. But it’s exciting nonetheless, holding the promise of more auroras to come as the winter darkness sets in. Last week at the Pole, IceCube winterovers were rather busy, mostly with giving […]
Last week was relatively quiet at the Pole. Even the outdoor photographs have a sort of “quiet” and reflective feel to them, as the sunlight continues to wane. Indoors, the quiet was surely broken, with firefighter training on the schedule. The training was carried out by mixing some fun into the work—dodgeball in the gym, […]
The sun is now below the horizon, but there’s still plenty of light. Most of us experience this period of twilight, where the sun transitions from day to night, over the course of an hour or so each day, but at the South Pole this change stretches over weeks and happens only once a year. […]
The lowering sun at the South Pole made for some great photos last week. Above, the sun itself is blocked by the ceremonial Pole marker, but its light shines through the US flag just behind the marker. IceCube winterover Ilya took advantage of the clear days last week to get out and capture these nice […]
A nice halo surrounds the lowering sun at the Pole, with some mistiness along the horizon. Sun halos, also called 22-degree halos, can appear in clear skies, too, as it’s the crystals in the high cirrus clouds that refract the light in this way. IceCube winterover Ilya captured another nice outdoor photo below, showing the […]
Ah, the waning days of summer, when the shadows cast by the lowering sun lengthen with each passing day. Here we see the photographer’s shadow as they capture a view of the station from the berms. Last week at the Pole was relatively quiet for IceCube’s winterovers. Both Ilya and Joe are on the emergency […]
A small plane found itself parked in behind some other aircraft at the South Pole last week, but it was next in line to depart. Instead of moving the planes in front of it out of the way, they found a simpler solution by attaching the tail wheel of the plane to a bulldozer and […]
The station is technically closed for the winter season, but there are still some Basler planes (and their pilots) transitioning from other Antarctic research stations that have stopped temporarily at the South Pole. IceCube winterovers Joe and Ilya were busy last week finishing up various outdoor tasks before the weather becomes too cold. Below the […]