July, 2011 ....J.
Dana Hrubes...updated July 31, 2011, 1159 GMT
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Aurora Australis with a corona formation "raining" down over the Dark Sector Laboratory (DSL)
July is usually the coldest month of the
year at the geographic South Pole, but this year the low for the month
of July was only -94 F (-70 C). Hopefully, we'll see colder
temperatures next month. However, we did have some of the most colorful
aurora Australis that I have seen in a
while. corona formation over DSL bright corona aurora-1 aurora-2 aurora-3 aurora-4
The South South Pole Telescope (SPT) backlit by an aurora
More aurora Australis and SPT: SPT and aurora SPT and colorful aurora SPT, DSL, aurora
The Dark Sector Laboratory, a colorful aurora, and a satellite trace
More auroras and stars at the Dark Sector Laboratory: DSL, stars, aurora colorful aurora behind DSL
The South Pole Telescope continued to operate well this past month as
we
are nearing completion of our 5 year wide area galaxy cluster survey
using the
Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. In addition to conducting normal telescope
operations, data quality analysis and computer software upgrade work,
we also addressed typical troubleshooting and
repair issues.
Numerous technical papers have been published
by the SPT team over the past couple of years on the discovery of
massive galaxy
clusters, their relation to Lambda-CDM cosmology and the impact they
have on the understanding of dark energy.
Other results include the discovery of other point sources such as
dusty
star-forming galaxies and refinements of the cosmic microwave
background (CMB) power spectrum at small angular scales. (click on
technical paper link below)
Next month - August: The Last Complete Month Without the Sun!
Recent
South Pole Telescope Technical Papers
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)
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