It’s getting quite bright outdoors, clear enough to see the penguin in front of you—that is, if you happen to be holding a paper version in your hand (or are reading a special comic), as there are no such creatures otherwise found at the South Pole. Even though it’s still cold at the Pole, the increased daylight has been beckoning the winterovers outside, and last week’s photographs captured images of snow in addition to the lovely sky colors. Below is a nice close-up of a snowdrift, happy where it is, while the following image shows the accumulation of snow on the IceCube Lab stairs and platforms, which will need to be moved. That means shoveling. It doesn’t normally snow at the Pole, but snow does manage to find its way there, blowing in from coastal regions, and must therefore be dealt with.
Only days away from official sunrise, the horizon really appears striking. The ceremonial South Pole also looks quite different than it did in this photo IceCube winterover Marc took in the middle of winter, with auroras overhead, but looks quite close to a photo he took just before the sun had set months earlier. Last week also revealed the results of the Winter International Film Festival of Antarctica (WIFFA), and the South Pole station’s efforts from a few weeks back won some awards. You can check out their films and all the results here and here.
