The approaching sunrise at the South Pole, 6 months after sunset
The
approaching sunrise at the South Pole, 6 months after sunset
September at the Pole - Sunrise
September is the
month when we get to see the sun for the first time since it set back
on about March 21st. Also, September is usually a windy month, so we
usually miss the actual sunrise which takes place over a day or
two. first
orange glow early in the month
dome just before sunrise
snow covered dome
Panorama taken near the
SETI optical telescope as the sun nears the horizon on September 10.
Sunrise is only about 10 days away. (scroll to the right to see entire
panorama)
Photo
taken downwind of skylab and the dome about 9 days from sunrise as
someone in the distance gazes up at the waxing moon. (scroll to the right to see entire
panorama)
A
panorama of South Pole Station taken at sunrise on September 20th
showing the nearly buried dome. (scroll to the right to see entire
panorama)
September is also
the month when Polies begin the long task of digging out from the long
dark winter and to prepare for the first aircraft flight arriving in
late October, when the temperature rises above -65
F. snow covered Atmospheric
Research Observatory (ARO)
ARO snow
snow covered
compressed gas bottles
It is now light
enough outside to see the interestingly shaped sastrugi that we were
tripping over during the dark winter. sastrugi-1
sastrugi-2
sastrugi-3
sastrugi-4
Sastrugi is formed when winds pack and then carve out snow
drifts. The harder the snow is packed, the less the wind can
erode the drift. When one steps over these drifts, the snow gets packed
underneath each step creating areas more resistance to wind erosion.
The result is sastrugi formed under each footprint made days
earlier. footprint
sastrugi
I was able to keep
the back door of the Cusp lab on the first floor of skylab from
drifting in this year, by building a tunnel from plywood and creating
an exit cover with triwall
cardboard. cusp lab exit (below the
visible second story railing) stairs carved of snow to
cusp lab exit (from inside skylab)
wind torn flags on the
flaglines
And finally, several
of us formed a 1960's band in order to play for a birthday party. We
learned almost 50 musical hits from the 60's in about 10 days. I
was the only one in the band that was actually around in the 1960's and
it was the first time I have played drums for this music since I was in
a rock band from 1967-1970. Hot Fudge
and the Starlights band poster (by K. Keenan (trumpet player)
the band
rockin'
dancing
drumming
Moving the instruments from skylab to the new
station is required before we can put on a show moving music-1
moving music-2
moving
music-3 A Real-Time Photo of South Pole Station as Seen from the ARO
Building (live when satellite is up)
NEXT
MONTH: first plane since February
A
Comprehensive
South Pole Web Site by Bill Spindler
Winterover Web
Pages
(Bill Spindler's List)
