Things "warmed" up a bit at the Pole last week. And there were sun dogs back in the skies and some interesting snow formations on the ground.
One of the first flights of the season is shown in this monochromatic image that rather dramatically portrays the desolate landscape of the Pole.
Well, there it is, the first plane to arrive at the South Pole for the season—a Basler. It only stopped long enough to refuel, but that was plenty of time to unload its precious cargo of fresh fruit.
The sun is well above the horizon, so there’s plenty of light for outdoor photography. And IceCube’s winterovers got right out there to take some splashy photos—that actually involved a splash of sorts, by throwing water out into an arc overhead that quickly turned into a spray of ice crystals.
The sunrise is over now at the South Pole, with the sun fully risen. But if you position yourself just so, near a large snowdrift, it can almost appear as though the sun is rising right there.
Some weeks at the Pole are quiet, and some—like last week—are busy. The IceCube detector had a number of hiccups that required the winterovers’ attention. On top of taking care of IceCube, there were plenty of other things to attend to as far as getting the station ready for the summer crews.
The sky just gets brighter and brighter along the horizon. And although auroras are exciting, the dawn sky with its changing colors holds its own special appeal.
The sky is beginning to take on different colors at the Pole, depending on which direction you’re looking. There’s a hazy band of orange along the horizon, but facing away toward the station the sky appears blue.
It was a quiet week at the Pole. And with some bad weather, it was a good time to roam around and take some indoor photos.
It’s a slow sunrise at the South Pole, with light creeping up from the horizon little by little each day. But even as the twilight approaches and the sky brightens, it’s still dark enough to discern some auroras here and there.