Week 24 at the Pole

That’s the IceCube Lab after dark, showing off its form as it’s backlit by red lights and standing under a multitude of stars overhead. The IceCube Lab—or ICL, as it’s called—is the building that houses all the computers collecting raw data from the detector. The silos on either side are where the cables come up […]

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Week 23 at the Pole

The photos from last week are all indoor shots, but clearly auroras aren’t the only source of color at the Pole. Last week the station celebrated a New Orleans–themed cocktail party, hosted by the SPT and BICEP winterovers. Décor and dress code were in the spirit of Mardi Gras (colorful), and all attendees enjoyed an […]

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Week 22 at the Pole

The moon from the previous week is long gone—with the darker skies, the stars and auroras get to take center stage. At the Pole last week, IceCube winterovers remained busy testing and verifying components of the new IceAct telescope. Connor also visited MAPO to help out the BICEP winterovers, and took the opportunity to photograph […]

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Week 21 at the Pole

The moon returned to the Pole last week, and bright enough so that they could temporarily remove some window covers (something to get excited about in the dark winter months). The “moon” theme continued with a special video call last week featuring Fred Haise, NASA astronaut. He described his career both before and after the […]

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Week 20 at the Pole

With record-breaking winds last week, the South Pole station spent a few days in lockdown mode, restricting off-station travel to critical operations only. Staying indoors might put a halt to outdoor photography plans, but it doesn’t hamper fun activities held indoors. Last week, the station had a burger bar (that’s IceCube winterover Kalvin, above, whipping […]

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Week 19 at the Pole

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 […]

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Week 18 at the Pole

A very large moon halo dominated the sky, here seen above the South Pole Telescope when conditions were just right last week. IceCube’s winterovers were busy as usual last week, and a few of their activities took them outside. With clear weather, they were able to enjoy views of auroras (no photos though) in addition […]

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Week 17 at the Pole

When it’s really cold outside—like with temperatures approaching -100°F!—it’s nice to have lots of fun things going on indoors at the Pole. Sure, there was work, and IceCube winterovers Connor and Kalvin had plenty to do: multiple webcasts for the IceCube Masterclass, deployment testing for the latest data acquisition software release, and debugging the IceAct […]

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Week 16 at the Pole

Even though sunset is always a slow and gradual process at the South Pole, it does seem like the “darkness” comes all of a sudden. Last week, those at the Pole were treated to the first large aurora of the season. In the image above, the aurora spreads across the sky as a long horizontal […]

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Week 15 at the Pole

The sun officially set weeks ago at the South Pole, but look at all that light on the horizon. It really sets off the steam from the station as it wafts in the wind, creating a long horizontal stream in the lower sky. IceCube’s winterovers were busy last week continuing their work on the IceAct […]

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