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, as seen in the image above. Turning around, the view was quite different—here you can see the Earth’s shadow outlined by a blue band in the sky. The
shadow cast by the Earth itself on its atmosphere is often not seen or recognized since it requires both clear weather conditions and that the observer has a clear view of the horizon. The South Pole station’s winter crew, including IceCube’s two winterovers, took advantage of the diminishing daylight for a group photo at the ceremonial pole.
