August, 2008....J. Dana Hrubes...updated August 31, 2008 , 0115 GMT
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iridium flare over SPT
An Iridium satellite creates a flare over South Pole Telescope (SPT) as its antenna reflects the sun down to the polar plateau. We have not seen any direct sunlight since March 21st, but the full moon is bright in this photo. The telescope is slightly blurred because it was scanning the heavens during this long 30 second exposure.


August is usually the coldest month of the year at the Pole, but this year has been slightly warmer than average, We have only reached a temperature of -99.9 F so far. We expect to break -100 F in September.  screen shot of the south pole weather with the temperature on its way down to -99.9F    

Once again, the frequency and intensity of auroras this month were minimal due to the solar minimum we are experiencing, but I did manage to capture a few good ones.    self portrait with SPT    aurora, SPT and the BICEP telescope    aurora and DSL   aurora illuminating the ice with green light  

self portrait with aurora
A self portrait in this long exposure with the full moon, South Pole Telescope (SPT) and aurora Australis

We had a power outage at the telescope this month which requires some long hours and sleeping over at the telescope to get things back in operation.     getting up into the receiver cabin of the telescope once it was docked           opening up the secondary mirror cryostat gate valve to vacuum pump down contaminants that vaporized when the cryostat warmed past 77 degrees Kelvin  

Finally, we put on an August concert and I played in my two bands, one a Rock cover band and the other an Irish band. (photos by Steffen Richter and Calee Allen)
  it's me feeling like when I played in a band in the 60's       me playing  drums    our rock cover band, "Picardis"   I'm waiting for show time   pro musician tim with andy in the background     Kevin playing tin whistle in our Irish band       andy playing irish banjo   chris on mandolin     andy and adit hammering out hard rocking Irish music     ethan and andy    south pole pirates dancing    

        

September: Sunrise after 6 months!

A Real-Time Photo of South Pole Station as Seen from the ARO Building (live when satellite is up)
A Comprehensive South Pole Web Site by Bill Spindler
Winterover Web Pages (Bill Spindler's List)

MY SOUTH POLE 2007-08 HOME PAGE

MY BI-POLAR HOME PAGE