Journal Entry

A Day of Rest

Although there are moments to take in the beauty of Antarctica, people at McMurdo station spend most of their time working. Sunday is the one day many researchers and staff have off. There is a nice brunch and time to sightsee, play sports and relax.

View of McMurdo SoundSunday allows time to take in stunning sights such as the view of McMurdo Sound shown above. Although the sun is up in the picture above, it was actually taken at 11 pm at night.

I spent the day catching up with family and visiting Discovery Hut with a friend. Discovery Hut is the historic hut that Scott and his team built in 1902 and which has been used for historic expeditions. I will write more about the hut later.

Movie Sunday: How a USAP Scientist Gets to Antarctica

Do you want to come to Antarctica now too? Below is a movie showing how you can get here!

Comments

Sun, 11/08/2015 - 17:29

Jesse

I see that your wind chill is 0. Does that mean there is no wind chill? What is the definition of wind chill - does that mean if there wasn't a wind that is how you'd feel?

Sun, 11/08/2015 - 18:56

Michelle Brown

status: 1I'm impressed you pay attention to the weather details! I mistakenly did
not include units after those numbers--yesterday the wind chill was at 0
degrees Fahrenheit. Wind chill is the temperature the air feels due to
wind (or air flow). If there wasn't any wind that day, the wind chill would
be much closer to the actual temperature.

Wed, 11/11/2015 - 13:30

Laura

When you said that the sun was up at 11PM, was that the time that it was in Antarctica? I was also wondering what the time zone in Antarctica is. Thank you!

Wed, 11/11/2015 - 15:02

Michelle Brown

status: 1Dear Laura,
I'm glad you caught the detail of what time it was! The sun is up 24 hours
a day--it simply moves around the horizon. When I said the sun was up at
11pm, that was the time zone in McMurdo Station. Every station here chooses
its time zone. Most just stay in the quadrant they are in. For example, we
are in the same time zone quadrant as New Zealand, so we use that time
zone. The New Zealand time zone is 18 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time
zone. The South Pole also uses New Zealand time. Great questions! Keep
them coming!

Sincerely,
Michelle

Mon, 11/16/2015 - 05:35

Amelia L

How long do you stay forHow do you get around
How cold is it usually there

Mon, 11/16/2015 - 18:19

Michelle Brown

status: 1Dear Amelia,
These are great questions! I am staying for about a month. I arrived
November 6 and will leave December 3rd. Some of my team members will stay
until December 10th though. We get around in lots of different ways. To get
to places on other sides of the island we are on, we usually take
helicopters. For example, we took a helicopter to get to Cape Bird. To get
around town, we walk. If it is far (like it was yesterday on our way to
Arrival Heights), we take a truck. To get out onto the sea ice, we take a
cool vehicle called a Piston Bully. Sometimes we take snow mobiles too!

Mon, 11/16/2015 - 18:19

Michelle Brown

status: 1It is usually between 10 - 20 degrees Fahrenheit, but feels like 0 to -10
degrees F with the wind!