25 January 2017 A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

"A true photograph need not be explained, nor can it be contained in words." -Ansel Adams

This is one of the most amazing views of my trip. Out at one of the ARA stations, I was the farthest away from "town" I'd ever been. I was at the edge looking out over nothing but the Antarctic ice. Peaceful and quiet, this continent will hold a special place in my heart. Anthony Bourdain came to the South Pole Station to film his TV show "Parts Unknown." I got to meet him! (Credit: Michael Larson) Taken right after we finished trenching, James' beard shows just how beautifully moisture will freeze at the South Pole. A rare citing of the ONE polar bear on the entire continent of Antarctica! (Credit: Adam West) This Do Not Freeze (DNR) sticker is common on delicate cargo. With a variety of sensitive scientific experiments nearby, the South Pole station (and surrounding area) is broken into sectors. Each sector has different rules when you enter. For example, the "Dark Sector" (where IceCube is) requires minimal light pollution including no radio frequency interference. All handheld radios must be turned off when entering this sector. On the other side is the "Upwind Sector" which is strategically placed upwind from the station to reduce air pollutants. One day while we were out working I looked up and saw a halo around the sun. Halos are only present when there are ice crystals in the air. The sun's light reflects and refracts because of the crystals, then disperses into the slight rainbow you can see in this picture. A bicycle outside the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. I'm not sure who this bicycle belongs to, but it does indeed get used (it changes position each day). Whoever it is must be a tad cold when riding. Standing outside the IceCube Lab (ICL). This is where we spend the majority of our time when we're not at the Station. See that metallic tube on the right (there's one on the left too, just not shown in this picture)? That's where the cables from the DOMs come out of the ground and into the ICL. Taking a break from digging, a few team members built an open-roof igloo. Here I am lounging around in -30F weather. Comfy! At the Geographic South Pole with Dr. Jim Madsen. So this is what it feels like to be at the bottom of the world! (Credit: Samantah Pedek) Sam catching some rays as we take a break from trenching. I'm not sure how tan they'll get in all that Extreme Cold Weather (ECW) gear.

Flags are used to mark everything from roads to equipment in the snow around the station. Each flag is 8 feet tall. In this picture, you'll see just how much these flags have been buried in snow. Although it doesn't snow much here, the wind causes the existing snow to drift quite a lot. The whole IceCube gang all together in the Science Lab. From left to right: Samantha Pedek, Mike DuVernois, Martin Wolf, Jim Madsen, Kate Miller, Samuel Flis, Michael Larson, James Casey, Francis Halzen (as a head), Keiichi Mase, Dylan Frikken. (Credit: Sasha Rahlin) As I look at my own footprints in the Antarctic snow, I wonder how many people have walked in this exact place before me. Probably not many. The South Pole Telescope (SPT) looks back through the history of our universe by examining the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). One of the things they're learning about is how the first galaxies were formed nearly 400,000 years after the Big Bang. A storage shelf at the Ice Cube Lab (ICL). You can see many boxes of foot warmers along with some other supplies. Too bad all of these foot warmers are expired…we found that out the hard way far from the station when they wouldn't heat up. I couldn't help but include this ice cube mold…because the IceCube Neutrino Observatory must have its own ice cubes. (Get it?!). Included are muons (top middle and bottom right), neutrinos (bottom left and top right), South Pole markers (top left and bottom middle), Antarctica, and the IceCube Lab. I'm continuously hanging up my base layers, socks, and gloves to dry after working outside. Luckily there's a clothesline built into my room and there is essentially no humidity here, so things dry quickly. I do look forward to laundry day - one load of laundry is allowed per person each week.