The horizon at the South Pole continues to slowly brighten with every passing day. Unfortunately, the brownouts and blackouts that had occurred the prior week at the Pole also continued, but—again—all was brought back to normal with no major problems resulting. Also last week, IceCube winterover Moreno, in conjunction with Concordia Station, launched a radio-sounding balloon in honor of Piero Angela, a great Italian science communicator who passed away on the eve of August 13th. Finally, the dazzling winter sky at the South Pole was gloriously captured by fellow SPT winterover Aman Chokshi, whose shared photos are always a treat. Above is a view of the ceremonial South Pole, with its circle of flags, underneath the Milky Way and a swath of auroras. Further below, two separate views of the LIDAR at the ARO building, first with auroras and then with a clear starry sky just a few hours later. At the bottom is a fantastic 360-degree panoramic view of the South Pole at dawn, with both the station and the ceremonial Pole on the horizon.
