Week 15 at the Pole

Although there is still a little bit of twilight left in the direction of the sun, the auroras have made their appearance at the South Pole. And the winterover team was treated to several good displays this week. […]

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A measurement of the atmospheric electron neutrino spectrum with IceCube

In a new analysis by the IceCube Collaboration, the atmospheric electron neutrino spectrum is measured at energies between 0.1 TeV and 100 TeV, extending previous measurements to higher energies and yielding improved precision. The results, which have been submitted to Physical Review D, find good agreement with models of the conventional electron neutrino flux. […]

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Week 14 at the Pole

Have we mentioned that the ICL (IceCube Lab) is a rather photogenic building? I think we have, recently—and although the sun has now officially set, there was still enough residual light last week to get a nice shot of the ICL—in shadow with a clear, colorful sky behind it. […]

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Week 13 at the Pole

Very little snow actually falls at the South Pole. Antarctica as a whole is the driest continent on Earth, and the South Pole, with its high altitude and distance from the coasts, receives the least precipitation. Yet, there is snow everywhere, blown in from elsewhere, and drifts can quickly become unwieldy if not dealt with. […]

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Week 12 at the Pole

The sun takes its time setting at the South Pole. And even after it has officially set, there remains an afterglow in the sky. This lingering light and some low horizontal clouds produced a beautiful orange backdrop last week to some of the dark sector buildings. […]

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Week 11 at the Pole

With the equinox last week, the annual sunset dinner was held at the South Pole station. It’s a celebration for a unique sunset that most of us don’t get to experience—where the sun sets slowly over time and, once set, does not reappear for another six months. […]

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Latest result from neutrino observatory IceCube opens up new possibilities for particle physics

The South Pole observatory IceCube has recorded evidence that elusive elementary particles called neutrinos changing their identity as they travel through the Earth and its atmosphere. The observation of these neutrino oscillations, first announced in 1998 by the Super Kamiokande experiment in Japan, opens up new possibilities for particle physics with the Antarctic telescope that was originally designed to detect neutrinos from faraway sources in the cosmos. […]

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Tidings from the 2015 IceCube Masterclass

The second edition of the IceCube Masterclass took place on Wednesday, March 18, at nine institutions in the US and Europe, and on Saturday, March 14, at the University of Ghent. All in all, 175 high school students analyzed IceCube data in the search for astrophysical neutrinos and cosmic rays. […]

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Week 10 at the Pole

Close up, with the sun behind it, or from a distance, with the sun shining upon its face, the ICL, or IceCube Lab, is a rather photogenic building, with its blue, elevated structure and shiny, symmetrical towers. A low, bright sun makes its towers gleam, and the shadows that it casts stretch on and on. […]

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