This could be IceCube winterover Marc’s last weather balloon launch at the South Pole. And what a nice image, with a sun halo in the sky as a backdrop. Marc has helped launch quite a few balloons during his time at the Pole, but that time is now dwindling, for both him and fellow IceCube […]
The seventh meeting of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research Astronomy and Astrophysics from Antarctica (SCAR AAA) was held September 19-21, 2023, about 1400 km from the North Pole in the northernmost town in the world, Svalbard, Norway. The three-day workshop brought together dozens of researchers from nine countries to discuss, coordinate, and promote astronomical and astrophysical activities in Antarctica. […]
Summer season has begun—there were two flights in and out of the Pole last week. The first flight just stopped for refueling (below) after flying through South America on its way to McMurdo Station. But they left behind some fresh fruit (or “freshies,” as they call them)—a very welcome sight after 8 months of no […]
With the first planes of the summer season soon to arrive, it’s full steam ahead for readying the station for new arrivals. Among the many preparations, the winterovers reinstalled flags along the skiway. The structures off in the distance are the radio and satellite communications facilities for the Pole. A sunny day provided good conditions […]
Last week, over 200 IceCube collaborators descended on Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for the fall 2023 collaboration meeting. The meeting ran from October 18 through October 23 and was hosted by Michigan State University (MSU). Before the official start of the collaboration meeting, a number of pre-meetings were held on October […]
Oh, we thought they were done clearing snow. Guess not—look at all that accumulation still on the front deck of the IceCube Lab. A few hours later, though, and most of it is gone. Phew! The IceCube detector was quiet last week, but IceCube’s winterovers kept themselves busy. Besides shoveling snow, they replaced outdoor flags […]
IceCube collaborator and Harvard physics professor Carlos A. Argüelles-Delgado was named a 2023 Packard Fellow for Science and Engineering. Packard Fellowships are given to early-career scientists and engineers “who are boldly pursuing new areas of research.” As a Packard Fellow, Argüelles will receive $875,000 in unrestricted funds that can be used over five years in […]
Last week was another relatively quiet week at the South Pole. IceCube’s winterovers responded to a couple of pages for troubleshooting issues, did the monthly IceTop DOM calibration run, and finished up some tests and preparations for a workstation OS update scheduled for next week. Given a well-behaved detector, the winterovers spent some time outdoors. […]
Things were on the quiet side last week at the South Pole. The sun is up but still very low in the sky—check out the long shadow cast by the IceCube Lab (ICL), above. Below, instead, is a nice view of the ICL as it sunbathes in the early sunrise, with sastrugi now visible in […]
It was very cloudy for the official sunrise this year. In fact, it was cloudy most of last week at the Pole, as evidenced in the weather balloon photo below, where the white ground blends seamlessly into the white sky. The sun is clearly visible on the horizon in the photo above and the one […]