Week 31 at the Pole

Early sunrise behing the flags at the ceremonial South Pole.
Martin Wolf, IceCube/NSF

It’s getting obviously lighter outside, but thanks to clear skies (and intrepid winterover-photographers), we are still being treated to some wonderful images of the stars and auroras over the South Pole landscape. Above is the ceremonial pole as the sun rises behind the flags. After taking this photo, winterover Martin turned around to photograph the skies over the station, which in addition to lots of stars show Jupiter and Saturn as bright objects lower in the sky. But it was a tiring task, requiring a quick nap in the snow at the end of it. Maybe he hadn’t properly fueled up for the day with what’s apparently a typical breakfast, at least for some, at the Pole—omelette, donuts, baklava, pizza (?), and…“French onion soup smothered chicken” (??). Josh was out on the ice with his camera as well, and captured a nice scene of a bright green aurora swirling over the horizon and then his own selfie finally in front of the IceCube Lab while auroras and the Milky Way’s center were still clearly visible.

Winterover Martin lying on ground among flags at ceremonial Pole under starry skies, with view of station behind.
Martin Wolf, IceCube/NSF
Grouping of plated breakfast items on table with utensils and newspaper.
Josh Veitch-Michaelis, IceCube/NSF
Josh Veitch-Michaelis, IceCube/NSF
Josh Veitch-Michaelis, IceCube/NSF
Winterover Josh with arms up, standing in front of IceCube Lab with auroras and Milky Way.
Josh Veitch-Michaelis, IceCube/NSF