Last week at the Pole, IceCube winterover Connor got up close and personal with…something large. That something turns out to be a calibration target for the South Pole Telescope. It’s not located near the telescope but rather about 3 kilometers away, the minimum distance required for the telescope to focus on the source, which gets […]
It was a busy week at the Pole. It started off with a LOT of heavy lifting for IceCube’s winterovers, Kalvin and Connor. In the midst of installing new power supplies for computers in the IceCube Lab, which involves a good deal of unpacking and moving hardware, they had to pick up the pace in […]
IceCube collaborator and Harvard University physics professor Carlos Argüelles-Delgado is among 19 outstanding teacher-scholars in chemistry, physics, and astronomy named recipients of the Research Corporation for Science Advancement’s 2024 Cottrell Scholar Awards. Each awardee receives $120,000. Recipients are chosen through a rigorous peer-review process of applications from a wide variety of public and private research […]
First, there’s the greenhouse…and this is what it looks like after a harvest. IceCube winterover Kalvin assisted with last week’s harvest, something he was looking forward to doing even before starting his time at the South Pole. People there really appreciate the salads and greens provided by the greenhouse, especially in the winter months when […]
Over the past two months, a team of IceCube drill engineers have completed an impressive amount of work during the first of three consecutive field seasons for the IceCube Upgrade. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation and international collaborators. The goal of the project is to drill seven holes in 2025/2026 and […]
Running a full marathon is one thing (and one that most of us find hard to wrap our heads around), but running a marathon at the South Pole? Now there’s some conviction! Every year, the South Pole hosts a full marathon, along with a half marathon and other races, and sometimes IceCube members are among […]
Last year, the “Name that Neutrino” project was launched, which called on volunteers from the public to help classify signals from neutrinos—tiny, ghostlike particles—for the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole. The project was hosted on Zooniverse, the largest web-based research platform that invites novices and science enthusiasts alike to contribute to ongoing research […]
A bright sun and clear skies were just the ticket for capturing this image of the IceCube Lab (ICL) at the South Pole last week. The photo was actually taken at 3:00 am! Athough the sun’s out all the time now, that early hour happened to be ideal for outdoor lighting conditions. This summer is […]
The new year started off on a quiet note at the South Pole. Last week, with a well-behaved IceCube detector and many holiday celebrations behind them, the winterover crew enjoyed a relatively quiet week, with some nice weather and perhaps a little more free time on their hands. They spent some of that time continuing […]
Everyone at the South Pole station congregated outside last week for a nice holiday group photo. While the temperatures at the Pole are normally their warmest in December and January, it was still cold out there. Hard to tell from the photo as there are plenty of folks not wearing hats and a few here […]