Week 39 at the Pole

South Pole station winterovers posing as a group behind the South Pole Telescope.
Matthew Young, NSF

Last week, the intrepid South Pole station winterovers got themselves together (all but two of them!) for an outdoor group photo. With the sun out, it’s easy to forget just how cold it is there. They picked a vantage point behind the South Pole Telescope where the other major facilities could be seen on both sides in the background. The Martin A. Pomerantz Observatory (MAPO) is visible on the left and the IceCube Laboratory is on the right. Below is the ceremonial pole marker backlit by the rising sun. It was an otherwise relatively quiet week—they had a phone call and shared notes with other winterovers at the Rothera Research Station and continued with station opening preparations, including wall scrubbing indoors and snow shoveling outdoors.

Ceremonial pole marker backlit by the rising sun.
Josh Veitch-Michaelis, IceCube/NSF