It doesn’t snow much at the South Pole but there is lots of snow that accumulates there, and sometimes it needs to be moved. Such was the case last week, when a digging crew was put to the task of removing old field equipment from another South Pole experiment, ARIANNA, a proof of concept for […]
The first full week of the year was a busy one! So much going on… The IceCube detector was well behaved, but there were still several maintenance items to take care of. One of the maintenance tasks involved the IceACT camera on the roof of the ICL, and while they were working, they discovered one […]
Like other places around the world, the South Pole has its traditions for ringing in the new year, but some of them are unique to this locale. For example, each year they hold a ceremony at the geographic pole to set a new pole marker into place. The exact location of the geographic pole shifts […]
There are many well-established traditions at the South Pole, and the “Race Around the World” (above) is one of them—a fun run that covers about a two-mile circumference around the South Pole, crossing through all the world’s time zones. Costumes optional, but part of the fun. Last week at the Pole they celebrated Christmas, with […]
The holiday season is often a busy time of year for many people, and things are no different at the South Pole. Last week, the IceCube winterovers had their hands full with some detector troubleshooting and maintenance—below they are seen testing batteries and swapping them out at the IceCube lab—as well as clearing snow from […]
It was a fairly busy week at the Pole. IceCube’s new winterovers made their first IceTop snow measurements, an outdoor task that requires daylight to perform. Driving around the detector in a PistenBully helps take care of business more quickly and easily. Since it’s summer there, the weather is rather mild (for the Pole!), but the skies […]
The sun provided all sorts of photo opportunities at the Pole last week. Here we see IceCube winterover Josh framed nicely in front of a sun halo with faint sun dogs. […]
More planes (and more fresh faces) arrived at the Pole last week. With five planes total during the week, most of the winter crew has departed. […]
The first Basler plane arrived at the South Pole last week, bringing a few newcomers and carrying away some outgoing winterovers. […]
Last week it warmed up a bit at the Pole, rising from about -45 ºF (-43 ºC) to about -15 ºF (-26 ºC) over the course of the week. Much more summerlike. […]