Week 10 at the Pole

colorfulsky
Yuya Makino, IceCube/NSF

So, is it a watercolor or a photograph? Well, it is a photograph, but the hazy bands of color in the sky make it definitely reminiscent of a watercolor. The effect stems partly from a combination of the sun setting and strong winds kicking up a lot of snow into the air. The buildings shown are those that house the satellite communications infrastructure. Most of last week was pretty windy at the Pole, so it was not too much fun for the winterovers who needed to take some snow measurements for IceTop while there was still available outdoor light, as seen below. But the winds didn’t stop John from getting a nice shot of the low sun over the flags of the ceremonial South Pole.

snowmeasuring
Yuya Makino, IceCube/NSF
sunset
John Hardin, IceCube/NSF