It’s getting obviously lighter outside, but thanks to clear skies (and intrepid winterover-photographers), we are still being treated to some wonderful images of the stars and auroras over the South Pole landscape. Above is the ceremonial pole as the sun rises behind the flags. After taking this photo, winterover Martin turned around to photograph the skies over the station, which in addition to lots of stars show Jupiter and Saturn as bright objects lower in the sky. But it was a tiring task, requiring a quick nap in the snow at the end of it. Maybe he hadn’t properly fueled up for the day with what’s apparently a typical breakfast, at least for some, at the Pole—omelette, donuts, baklava, pizza (?), and…“French onion soup smothered chicken” (??). Josh was out on the ice with his camera as well, and captured a nice scene of a bright green aurora swirling over the horizon and then his own selfie finally in front of the IceCube Lab while auroras and the Milky Way’s center were still clearly visible.
