As the sky at the South Pole gets brighter, we can definitely see the difference from just two weeks ago in this view of the IceCube Lab. The snow drift is still there, though, and that will stay there until it is intentionally moved—the sun won’t be able to make a dent in it, even […]
The sky at the South Pole continues to brighten up before official sunrise—lately to the point where headlamps are no longer needed to see while walking outside. The moon can help brighten things up even more on some days. IceCube winterover Ilya was out with his camera last week, taking some nice photos of the […]
Everything’s blue and rather dark, but not gloomy. There’s just a hint of orange starting to spread along the horizon, brightening up the scenery. Last week at the Pole, IceCube’s winterovers had some minor detector issues to respond to, but they otherwise enjoyed a rather quiet week. That’s the benefit of a well-behaved detector—more quiet […]
This could the season’s last view of the IceCube Lab with the Milky Way visible overhead. Key word being could—guess we’ll see. The Milky Way also appears, somewhat more faintly, below as it stretches upward from the IceCube Upgrade drill camp. Last week at the Pole was rather quiet in most respects. The kitchen, however, […]
It seems so bright outside at the Pole—but we didn’t miss the sunrise, that’s still to come. However, you can see the beginning of some light along the horizon as twilight progresses. They are about to enter nautical twilight, which is basically the middle stage between night and day. Last week, there was also the […]
Quiet time at the South Pole is good for any number of things—last week it was getting all the board games sorted and organized in the game room. Board games have proven to be a popular past time at the Pole. IceCube winterover Ilya was also out on the ice removing the covers on the […]
Last week was one of those relatively quiet weeks at the South Pole. IceCube’s winterovers gave a webcast presentation for a group of high school students in Australia. The whole station came together in celebration of Christmas in July, observed in many parts of the world, including the South Pole. But the quiet indoors was […]
What’s black and white and red all over? All the images from last week at the Pole. First of all, it’s winter, it’s dark, and the ground is covered in snow—there’s your black and white. The red? Well, the Dark Sector at the South Pole is home to many light-sensitive experiments, so in the dark […]
Last week was mostly quiet again at the South Pole. The snow drifts continue to grow, as clearly seen in front of the IceCube Lab, above. From farther away, we see the snowed-in IceCube Upgrade hose reel and storage containers, under a bright moon (not sun!) through overcast skies. The activity for last week came […]
There’s a lot of snow around at the South Pole for a place that’s classified as a desert. That’s because it is carried in from strong winds that blow across the continent. And the blowing snow accumulates around the station and all the structures located at the Pole, including the IceCube Upgrade storage containers as […]