Week 39 at the Pole

Sunrise at South Pole, with low sun directly behind South Pole Telescope, leaving surroundings in dark and shadow.
Ilya Bodo, IceCube/NSF

The sun is up, but it’s still quite low on the horizon. When you face the sun, as in the image above looking at the South Pole Telescope, all of the surroundings are still dark and in shadow. Face away, as in the image below of the IceCube Upgrade drill camp, and all is clear and bright. IceCube’s winterovers were busy last week with a detector test run and the first phase of shoveling all the accumulated snow at the IceCube Lab. Taking stock of snowmobiles and other vehicles stored over the winter indicates some additional snow removal efforts will be needed.

IceCube Upgrade drill camp structures seen at early sunrise, a bit frosty.
Ilya Bodo, IceCube/NSF
A line of snow-covered snowmobiles stacked on spools in the South Pole storage berms.
Ilya Bodo, IceCube/NSF
A snow-covered snow grooming vehicle stored outside, with a door ajar showing snow that has accumulated inside.
Ilya Bodo, IceCube/NSF