Week 24 at the Pole

Friday, June 23, 2017 - 12:00pm

Winners of facial hair contest at South Pole station
Martin Wolf, IceCube/NSF

What a busy week at the Pole.  So much time, and so little to do.  (Strike that. Reverse it.)  After all, it was Midwinter there, marking the halfway point of the long, dark winter.  That’s reason enough to celebrate.  They held their traditional viewing of “The Shining” and celebratory dinner, including salads, menus, and fancy décor.  All across Antarctica, research stations took group photos and created and exchanged Midwinter greeting cards—the South Pole station’s is shown at the bottom.  Also last week was the culmination of a station-wide facial hair contest.  Winterovers James and Martin both participated, but somehow did not quite make it into the circle of winners, posing together above.  The auroras were celebrating, too—some really bright ones, and one in particular that seemed to be trying to wrap itself around the Milky Way.

Menu for Midwinter dinner
Martin Wolf, IceCube/NSF

South Pole galley with tables decked out for fancy dinner
Martin Wolf, IceCube/NSF

Bright green streak of aurora over South Pole station bathed in red light
Martin Wolf, IceCube/NSF

Bright green auroras covering the sky
Martin Wolf, IceCube/NSF

aurora swirling and seeming as if to hug the Milky Way
James Casey, IceCube/NSF

Midwinter greeting card from South Pole station
Martin Wolf, IceCube/NSF