No, not yet—that’s the moon, not the sun. But so bright, one would be forgiven for mistaking it for the sun. Not only is this full moon bright, but it’s sporting a nice clear halo, too, providing an excellent backdrop for a shot of the IceCube Lab.
A fairly laid back week, all things considered. The moon was rising, and IceCube winterover Martin focused his camera outside on some snowed-in heavy machinery. Looks like quite a covering for a place that hardly sees any snowfall.
Last week at the Pole, life for the IceCube winterovers was bookended by a very busy beginning and a fun and lighthearted ending. For the first few days, they had to contend with some detector issues arising from run transitions and test runs performed, but all went well. By the end of the week, they were celebrating Christmas in July.
The sun will rise again … at some point. But in the meanwhile, it’s still winter and the skies remain dark. A bright moon had been lighting things up lately, but last week it was gone, leaving it up to the auroras to provide the overhead entertainment.
Although the poker tournament continues, last week’s focus was all about the Games—the South Pole Winter Games, where they had actual medals, a closing ceremony, and even an Olympic flame.
Let the games begin! The South Pole Winter Games, that is. They feature an eclectic line-up of events, including vertical tower sprint and photography. IceCube winterovers James and Martin signed up for some individual trials but also formed a team to compete in volleyball.
Last week the IceCube detector had almost perfect uptime. There was also a continuing poker tournament, a birthday celebration, and auroras that seemed to be getting into the spirit of the 4th of July.
What a busy week at the Pole. It was Midwinter there, marking the halfway point of the long, dark winter. They held their traditional viewing of “The Shining” and celebratory dinner, including salads, menus, and fancy décor. Also last week was the culmination of a station-wide facial hair contest.
The moon was up last week, making it quite bright outside—it almost looks like sunshine. But it’s winter at the Pole, and IceCube’s winterovers have been busy. They had to trek out to the ICL for one thing or another, and they also performed some regular maintenance procedures on DOMs, both in the ice and in IceTop.
Another busy week for IceCube’s winterovers—they were paged several times to deal with crashes and other irregularities. Despite the activity, the detector was quite stable with minimal down time. The station had a special Memorial Day lunch last week, complete with hamburgers and hotdogs. And auroras!