Week 22 at the Pole

Monday, June 11, 2018 - 12:30pm

Beautiful starry sky with Milky Way and Iridium flare visible above the IceCube Lab
Johannes Werthebach, IceCube/NSF

Since it’s nighttime all the time during winter at the South Pole, it can be pretty dark outside, depending on the weather.  But with clear conditions, you can get a wondrous night sky.  Here we have the IceCube Lab under quite the starry sky, with the Milky Way in clear view and an Iridium flare making a noticeable mark. Last week, IceCube winterovers Raffaela and Johannes had some fire team training that was geared toward the challenges of winter darkness.  They practiced harness conversions for fire fighter rescues in a pitch black gym.

Starry sky and auroras over Dark Sector buildings in distance
Johannes Werthebach, IceCube/NSF