It finally happened—the lowering sun disappeared below the horizon at the South Pole, leaving everything in dusk. The shadows had been getting longer and longer in the last few weeks, but the skies were fairly clear so they were able to capture some nice sunset photos. Earlier in the week, IceCube’s winterovers joined all the other winterovers in helping take down BICEP’s calibration mirror. This outdoor work was done on a day with windchill temperatures around –120 °F, and holding onto metal poles that supported the mirror left their fingers numb even through multiple layers of gloves and mittens. Perhaps the steaks they had for the traditional sunset dinner made up a bit for their hardship outdoors.
