Ilya Bodo, IceCube/NSF This could the season’s last view of the IceCube Lab with the Milky Way visible overhead. Key word being could—guess we’ll see. The Milky Way also appears, somewhat more faintly, below as it stretches upward from the IceCube Upgrade drill camp. Last week at the Pole was rather quiet in most respects. [...]| WIPAC – Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center
Ilya Bodo, IceCube/NSF It seems so bright outside at the Pole—but we didn’t miss the sunrise, that’s still to come. However, you can see the beginning of some light along the horizon as twilight progresses. They are about to enter nautical twilight, which is basically the middle stage between night and day. Last week, there [...]| WIPAC – Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center
Quiet time at the South Pole is good for any number of things—last week it was getting all the board games sorted and organized in the game room. Board games have proven to be a popular past time at the Pole. IceCube winterover Ilya was also out on the ice removing the covers on the trio of IceAct telescopes (above). The moon was out, nice and bright, lighting everything up and casting long shadows. Someday the sun will take over that job.| WIPAC - Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center
Ilya Bodo, IceCube/NSF Last week was one of those relatively quiet weeks at the South Pole. IceCube’s winterovers gave a webcast presentation for a group of high school students in Australia. The whole station came together in celebration of Christmas in July, observed in many parts of the world, including the South Pole. But the [...]| WIPAC – Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center
The 39th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC), the largest conference in the world for cosmic ray physics, was held on July 14-July 24 at the Geneva International Conference Center in Geneva, Switzerland. The main topics covered included cosmic-ray physics, gamma-ray astronomy, neutrino astronomy and neutrino physics, dark matter physics, solar and heliospheric physics, multimessenger astronomy, [...]| WIPAC – Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center
What’s black and white and red all over? All the images from last week at the Pole. First of all, it’s winter, it’s dark, and the ground is covered in snow—there’s your black and white. The red? Well, the Dark Sector at the South Pole is home to many light-sensitive experiments, so in the dark of winter artificial lighting is kept to a minimum and only red exterior lighting is used to reduce interference.| WIPAC - Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center
Ilya Bodo, IceCube/NSF Last week was mostly quiet again at the South Pole. The snow drifts continue to grow, as clearly seen in front of the IceCube Lab, above. From farther away, we see the snowed-in IceCube Upgrade hose reel and storage containers, under a bright moon (not sun!) through overcast skies. The activity for [...]| WIPAC – Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center
There’s a lot of snow around at the South Pole for a place that’s classified as a desert. That’s because it is carried in from strong winds that blow across the continent. And the blowing snow accumulates around the station and all the structures located at the Pole, including the IceCube Upgrade storage containers as well as the IceCube Lab, appearing in the serene image at the bottom. Last week was quiet at the South Pole. Quiet weeks are great for taking on complicated board games, p...| WIPAC - Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center
Ilya Bodo, IceCube/NSF Last week, things were quiet for IceCube’s winteovers as well as for the South Pole station in general, in recovery mode after the midwinter celebrations. But the skies weren’t quiet—the stars were out and auroras danced overhead. On one occasion, a large green auroa almost filled the entire sky, enough to fill [...]| WIPAC – Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center
Ilya Bodo, IceCube/NSF Wash, rinse, and repeat. You have two seasons at the Pole, summer and winter. Summer is long gone and now it’s not only winter but midwinter, which means the station has been closed for a while now and they’ve reached their halfway mark. But as the second half of winter unfolds, there [...]| WIPAC – Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center