Among all the healthy activities at the Pole lately is the “Climb to Mt. Everest” challenge, performed by climbing the stairs of the “beer can” (the vertical tower at the end of the station that connects the levels). The tower has 94 steps, and winterovers Josh and Martin are doing five beer cans a day, […]
The first auroras of the season are in! This is always such an exciting time, not only for those folks lucky enough to be at the Pole but also for those of us who only get the long-distance armchair experience. In IceCube winterover Martin’s selfie below, it almost looks as though he is somehow creating […]
So, how many South Poles are there? Above we see a beautiful sunset image taken last week at the Pole. This location is the ceremonial South Pole, easy to identify by the lineup of flags representing the original signatories of the Antarctic Treaty. It’s a place for photo ops, but it’s not what’s generally referred […]
Let the twilight begin! Even though twilight occurs only twice a year at the South Pole, it is a drawn out process that lasts weeks instead of hours. At sunset, the light outside slowly dwindles before leaving the Pole in complete darkness. Even then, it’s not always fully dark since, while the sun may be […]
It was all about the sun last week at the Pole. Weather conditions allowed the winterovers to glimpse the green flash as the sun finally set below the horizon. IceCube winterover Martin was in the right place at the right time to capture a photograph of it, above (and it wasn’t his first time). The […]
IceCube was stable last week, but the same can’t be said for the weather at the Pole. They had high winds and mostly conditions of low visibility from blowing snow. But there were a few brief moments where things cleared, and the sun was visible on the horizon. The low sun highlights the texture of […]
Last week was relatively quiet at the Pole. IceCube’s winterovers performed a few detector maintenance tasks and gave a tour of the ICL to South Pole logistics personnel. Although winter is fast approaching and the sun is quite low, there is still plenty of daylight for taking outdoor photos. Above we see the tour group […]
The sun is getting noticeably lower in the sky at the South Pole. IceCube’s winterovers also note that it’s starting to get cold. Apparently, there’s “cold” and then there’s “South Pole cold.” Last week, the winterovers were busy outdoors, taking advantage of the lingering light to complete a round of IceTop snow measurements. They also […]
Last week was relatively quiet at the Pole, offering a good opportunity to get out and reflag the flag line between the IceCube Lab (ICL) and the station. They drill new holes and replace flags as needed to keep the line well maintained. The flags are easy to see now while the sun is still […]
Well, now it’s official—the South Pole station has closed for the winter. Above is a great shot that IceCube winterover Martin captured of the last passenger-carrying plane to depart. Below, the plane is shown being refueled, followed by a view of its take-off as it heads for McMurdo captured from the station’s observation deck. The […]