The theme for last week at the Pole was “tall.” IceCube winterover Marc captured a nice photograph of the moon shining brightly through some striated clouds, with the ARO tower shown front and center. ARO stands for Atmospheric Research Observatory, which is located in the Clean Sector at the South Pole. In the summer season […]
For such a remote, isolated location, the South Pole tends to have a lot of activity most weeks. Last week, IceCube’s winterovers were treated to a middle-of-the-night (!) page for issues on a couple of DOMs, but power cycling resolved things so at least they were able to get back to sleep pretty quickly. The […]
Hans Niederhausen, IceCube collaborator and postdoctoral research associate at Michigan State University (MSU), has been selected as the recipient of the 2023 Shakti P. Duggal Award presented by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). Niederhausen was acknowledged for “his development and application of advanced analysis methods in neutrino astronomy.” The Duggal Award […]
IceCube collaborator Lu Lu received a 2023 International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) Early Career Scientist Prize “for her contributions to the development of high energy neutrino astronomy in the PeV energy region.” Lu accepted the award on July 27 during the opening ceremony at the 38th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC) held […]
The sources of cosmic rays—extremely energetic particles that rain down on Earth—have been a long-standing mystery in the field of astronomy. Cosmic-ray accelerators in the PeV energy range, known as PeVatrons, produce pions when the cosmic rays interact with their surroundings. These pions then decay into gamma rays and nearly massless particles called neutrinos. These […]
Christmas in July continued last week with all sorts of activities, ranging from a pool tournament to a pie-eating contest. And for those who enjoy competitive eating, they weren’t limited to just pies—a “donuts on a string” eating contest was also part of the festivities. In addition, the station held a Christmas trivia night and […]
A barren landscape, the South Pole is actually a desert. It’s not the kind of desert most people imagine, with lots of sand and heat and maybe a camel ambling by. Instead of sand, there’s snow. But almost all of that snow has blown in from more coastal regions of the continent, ushered in from […]
Not everyone celebrates Christmas in July, but they do at the South Pole station, where traditions prevail. Last week started off the festivities with the appearance of a tree and presents in the galley. More activities and decorations are planned for upcoming weeks. The weather was nice and cold as a fitting complement to the […]
Our Milky Way galaxy is an awe-inspiring feature of the night sky, viewable with the naked eye as a horizon-to-horizon hazy band of stars. Now, for the first time, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory has produced an image of the Milky Way using neutrinos—tiny, ghostlike astronomical messengers. In an article to be published tomorrow, June 30, […]
For those who spend a year living at the South Pole, they are treated to glorious night skies in the winter season. Last week was a case in point, with displays of bright auroras, lots of stars, and glimpses of the Milky Way. Winterovers also get to experience a multitude of South Pole station traditions […]