Action shot! In honor of the FIFA World Cup, IceCube winterovers Alicia and Camille ventured outside to play soccer—in the dark. Apparently the soccer balls weren’t too happy in the extreme cold, but the winterovers were treated to a nice starry sky while they played. The improved weather conditions allowed them to host the open […]
Bad weather has never looked so good. A bright moon and red exterior lighting coupled with very low visibility last week created a rather ethereal scene at the South Pole. But the downside was that the poor visibility forced IceCube’s winterovers to postpone an open house that had been planned at the IceCube Lab. Even […]
Midwinter has finally arrived at the Pole, and along with it the usual flurry of activity. This year, celebrations were given a medieval theme. Decorations and dress code followed suit for the traditional dinner. Before the meal, they had some fun with a festive disco bowling event in the gym. And check out their midwinter […]
IceCube’s winterovers had plenty of maintenance activities and detector calibrations, for both IceCube and the new IceCube Upgrade systems, to keep them busy last week. Station life also had its share of community activities, including a fun diversion working on a 3D puzzle of the Millennium Falcon. Looks like they’re almost done. They also had […]
The moon was out (nice and bright!), and a strong line of auroras crossed the lower sky, together creating a nice composition for a winter sky photo at the Pole. IceCube’s winterovers were busy last week with operations and calibration tasks, but had time to enjoy the outdoors as well as the fruits of their […]
The South Pole elevated station houses living quarters for its residents, which includes a large kitchen, dining and lounge areas, laboratory spaces…even a gym. (And a greenhouse!) But there are lots of other interesting spaces at the South Pole that are not elevated but rather underground. The fuel arch is one of them, located in […]
Last week at the Pole, the winterovers enjoyed some incredible auroras. And we were reminded that auroras are not always so easy to capture in photos. Ahh…but to be there in person is a treat. The panoramic view in the bottom image stretches from the IceCube Lab on the left to the South Pole station […]
Pickleball is a sport that’s had a major growth spurt in recent years, in the US as well as many other places around the world. Do those other places include the South Pole? Most definitely! In fact, they’ve been gearing up for a three-month-long championship. The pickleball court was unavailable, though, for two days last […]
The moon was still out and bright last week at the Pole. It was a nice guiding light in the sky for IceCube’s winterovers as they trekked out on the ice to uncover and examine the IceAct telescopes. In the greenhouse, peppers are taking after the pea pods with a sudden proliferation across the plants. […]
A full moon was out last week at the Pole, here seen high in the dark sky above the IceCube Lab (left) and South Pole Telescope and BICEP (right), barely identifiable on the distant horizon. IceCube’s winterovers were busy as usual with IceCube maintenance and Upgrade calibration and test runs. Winterover Alicia was also out […]