A Skyentist at the bottom of the world

DrDanielMichalik

Astronomer Computer Scientist Traveler

Resumé South Pole Contact
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Resumé

Work Experience and Education

Postdoctoral research fellow

2018-2021

European Space Agency (ESA/ESTEC), the Netherlands

  • Research focus: Detection of long-period exoplanets in astrometry, Gaia DR2, open clusters

Support astronomer (winter-over)

2017

South Pole Telescope, Antarctica

  • Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations of black holes and quasars
  • CMB observations with the SPT-3g detector. Scientific goals include the characterisation of small-scale structures in the CMB, detection of orphan gamma-ray bursts from their millimeter-wave afterglow, B-mode polarization studies, and the detection of galaxy clusters.
  • Winterover tasks included SPT3g detector commissioning, read-out system noise characterization, hard-/software maintenance of the computing system, and mechanical, electrical, and electronic maintenance of the telescope and its control systems.

Research assistant

2016

Lund University, Sweden

  • Research focus: Gaia astrometric core processing, preparation and validation of Gaia data release 1

PhD studies

2011 - 2015

Lund University, Sweden

  • Bayesian combination of astrometric observations, Astrometric core solution for insufficiently observed objects (Gaia-DR1/TGAS)
  • Ph.D. thesis: Tycho-Gaia and beyond: Combining data for precision astrometry (Download)

Young Graduate Trainee

2010

European Space Agency, Spain

  • Science satellite data processing: Astrometric data reduction algorithms (Gaia, Nano-JASMINE), mission planning scheduling algorithms (LISA Pathfinder)

University education

2003 - 2009

University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany

  • Diploma in Computer Science (equiv. MSc)
  • Focus: Networking and security, computer architecture, computer graphics, operating systems, physics
 

A journey to the South Pole

Logbook of a unique adventure

Last update: 14 November 2017

To the newest entry

In front of the telescope

On the 6th of January 2017 I left from Sweden to the South Pole. My journey led me 16200 km south (as the bird flies), although the actual flight distance was much closer to 25000 km. My mission on the harshest continent on Earth: do my best to ensure smooth operations of the South Pole Telescope (SPT) and help with the scientific analysis of its data, with the goal of discovering the signatures of high-energy events.

SPT is a state-of-the-art observatory of the cosmic microwave background. The telescope has just been upgraded, it now features a brand-new camera, the third generation of its kind. We are located in the very middle of the Antarctic continent at the Amundsen-Scott research station, quite exactly 90 degrees South. Yes, we really see the South Pole marker from our galley windows!

I will be staying here throughout the Antarctic winter, until November 2017. On this page I will upload pictures and small stories. Updates will come more or less often, depending on our internet availability and how busy I am. I strive for an update once a week. Feel free to email me questions! I hope you enjoy this little insight into the adventure of travelling to and living at the bottom of the world.

A journey to the south pole

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Christchurch: the final dark nights and the last lush greens

Christchurch (New Zealand) is the gateway to the US and New Zealand bases on Antarctica. Arriving early morning of the 8th of January, I was just in time to see a lovely sunrise behind the airport control tower. The city features a fantastic botanical garden. I happened to be there just in time for an open-air concert in the park and a nap in the warm summer sun.

The Christchurch airtraffic control tower in the morning sun A last glimpse of green: the botanical gardens in Christchurch A last glimpse of green: the botanical gardens in Christchurch A last glimpse of green: the botanical gardens in Christchurch A last glimpse of green: the botanical gardens in Christchurch Lucky coincidence: open-air concert in the park Lucky coincidence: open-air concert in the park Concerts in the park become even better by bringing a cute picnic basket A somewhat different fountain. The faces rotate driven by water, and the goose flaps its wings. Christmas decorations along the trees Christmas decorations along the trees

Sun, 8 Jan
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Flying to Antarctica

Christchurch does not only host the departure airport for flights bound for Antarctica, it also hosts the clothing distribution centre. Extreme cold weather (ECW) gear is issued for all participants of the United States Antarctic Program (USAP). It is strange to think that today is my last dark night for a while, and the last time I see people, bars, restaurants, stores. When I arrive to Antarcitca the sun will be above the horizon the entire time, all day and night. In the morning of the 10th we are boarding a ski-equipped military Hercules aircraft. The journey to the coast of Antarctica takes 8 hours and we are greeted by ice, snow, and mountains.

Clothing distribution centre: One of each of the warm clothes, please, I might need it! 2500 kg of fresh fruit and vegetables, science cargo, and a large team of staff and visitors on their way to Antarctica. Toilets are located behind curtains. Luckily it's loud enough that noone can hear a thing. Arrival to Antarctica: Ice, water, rocks. Low-hanging clouds above the Antarctic coast. A first view of the McMurdo base: the white mountain in the background is the active volcano Erebus. The hill to the front right is the 'Observation hill'. First steps on the Antarctic ice. In order to land on a snow runway the aircraft is equipped with giant skis. Transportation from the airstrip to the research base.

Jan 9+10
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One night in McMurdo

At the very coast of Antarctica, at the point closest to New Zealand, lies its largest research base: McMurdo. Travellers bound for the south pole typically spend one night here, and if the weather is too bad to continue the journey one might be stranded here for a few days. We continued next day, and for me this was a decision between sleeping and seeing the research base and its surroundings. Of course I had to chose the latter! The pictures below show the base, the historic 1902 Discovery Hut at the Hut Point peninsula, and give an impression of my hike up the nearby Observation Hill.

A sign outside the doctor's office in McMurdo. Ice and snow require special vehicles. Scott's hut, built 1905. A view of the cross on top of the <em>Hut Point</em> hill. In the background the McMurdo base and the <em>Observation Hill</em>, my next hiking goal. The station seen from the nearby <em>Observation Hill</em> A view towards the sea from <em>Observation Hill</em>. Lots of seals can be seen. McMurdo's heliport.

Jan 11
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The way to the very bottom of the Earth

Quite a painfully early morning. I was out hiking till 3am, and had to get up shortly after 6am for my flight from McMurdo to the south pole. The flight took about three hours and crossed straight across the trans-Antarctic mountains. After five days of travelling I am finally at my destination! I immediately feel welcome, basically the entire South Pole Telescope team is waiting at the airfield and I am greeted with the words Welcome home. South pole, my new home for the next year.

Our bus to the airport. Spare propellers. Those things are huge! Excited, in front of the LC-130 ski-equipped Hercules. Trans-Antarctic mountains seen from the airplane. Trans-Antarctic mountains seen from the airplane. Arctic Survival Kit... someone needs to tell them that we are as from the Arctic as is physically possible. Trans-Antarctic mountains seen from the airplane. Trans-Antarctic mountains seen from the airplane. Polar expedition boots - ready for the south pole. Arrival at the South Pole Passenger terminal. Psssst, secret: It's really just a small metal shack. From the airfield one can simply walk to the station. Finally, the ceremonial south pole! This picture was taken from one of our galley windows. In the background: a tourist camp site.

Jan 11
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First impressions

Upon arrival it took me quite a while to acclimatize to the surroundings. First, there is a large change in altitude, from sea level to effectively 3300m above sea level in only three hours of flight time. The air is very thin and occasionally it was hard to breath, especially when walking up stairs. I spent three days avoiding moving too much and tried to sleep much, which helped a lot with getting used to the altitude.

Secondly, it's bright here, twenty-four hours a day, all the time, until mid-March when we will experience one single sunset that lasts for multiple days. Quite mind-blowing, eh?

Lastly, oh, the jet lag, it was bad. The station uses New Zealand time, which is exactly opposite (we are twelve hours ahead) compared to Central European time. We currently only have satellite coverage during night hours, which makes calling people or using the internet hard if one still wants to actually get some sleep before working hours. Speaking of the satellite schedule, it is published as a PDF and in text form on the USAP website. Reading it is easiest done by checking the last page (New Zealand time) of the PDF (non-Javascript) which shows when we have satellite coverage at the south pole, and then to subtract twelve hours to convert the times to Central European times.

Anyhow, I'm posting this with a bit over a one week delay. I spent the last week getting up to speed with my work, and I hope you'll enjoy some first impression pictures this week instead!

My way to work is approximately one
kilometer. This picture is taken from the South Pole Telescope (where I work)
facing the station (where we eat and sleep). The telescope is huge! Find the person working on greasing its elevation axis for comparison. The big box in the top left (with the green bottom edge) is the receiver cabin where we will mount the new camera, once it is ready. I am somewhat lucky to arrive on this particular day. Parts of the detector are still open and it's very nice to see what it looks like on the inside. This picture shows the new receiver ('camera') to be mounted on the telescope. The cylindrical part facing away contains the optics, and the square box that houses the detector and read-out electronics is still open. Two of my colleagues are working on finishing the assembly before closing the back. Close-up of two of the detectors and their read-out electronics. Close-up of some of the read-out amplifiers (SQUIDS) Facing away from the station all I can see
is white. It is currently around -25 to -30 degrees Celcius, which
feels like -35 to -40 on days like today with rather little wind. Fun fact: the
air is so thin and dry that it transports little heat, it's mostly the wind that cools
us down in these conditions. In fact, today I'm definitely dressed too warm. 16220 km and five days of travelling, and there is actually mail waiting for me! How exciting and what a sweet welcome. Thank you, Susanna, Andi, Isabella, Moritz, Signe, Ronja, Ida, and Dainis!

Jan 13
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Visiting the tourist camp

In one of my first pictures of the pole marker I pointed out a tourist camp in the background. We thought it would be fun to pay them a visit! On the way home we spent some time goofing in the snow and taking shots around at the south pole markers.

The tourist camp: three community tents (blue) containing the galley, lounge and dry toilet; in the background: tents for sleeping (orange). Galley (right) and toilet (left). Toilet. One of the sleeping tents. It's unheated, good that there is a cozy sleeping bag inside! Cake and mimosas for breakfast. Hannah, Eric, Eli, Shane, thank you for the warm welcome! During the winter the camping equipment remains at the south pole. A ski-equipped Basler aircraft picking up the crew of the tourist camp to take them to their next adventure. In the background: the South Pole Telescope (left), BICEPS-3 (middle), Keck (right). Part of our small delegation biding farewell to the tourist camp organizers. Snow angels at the south pole. Great place for a snow angel. Fun with flags: the ceremonial south pole The ceremonial south pole. View of the station (living quarters, offices, galley, gym, etc). The actual geographical south pole moves with the ice, a few meters every year. Every winter crew produces a marker for the next year, the new marker is placed at New Year's. Or should this picture really be taken the other way around? Carrying the world on my shoulders! Goodbye for today! Disappearing through the escape hatch into the underground tunnels that lead back to the station. A true winter wonderland.

Jan 14-16
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The South Pole Traverse

Today, the third south pole traverse arrived. The traverse is a convoy of nine tractors that drive the 1600 km from McMurdo at the coast to the south pole in the middle of the Antarctic continent. It takes them about three to four weeks, during which the drivers live along the road in two containers, also drawn as part of the traverse cargo.

The purpose of the traverse is delivering fuel to the south pole station. This summer three traverses had arrived to the pole, each delivering over 400 000 liters of fuel for our upcoming winter. This covers roughly three quarters of the total fuel needs (1.5 million liters) of the station. The remaining fuel is brought in by aircraft.

The first two tractors. From right to left: Common area (kitchen, bathroom, etc), generator container, bed rooms, storage. They might seem small, but they ain't. These tractors are huge and each one is pulling around 90000 liters of jetfuel for the station. Close-up of the fuel bladders. Each bladder is over 10000 litres. In the background the pump shack and the geographical south pole marker. Huge tractors indeed. Here you see one that is equipped with a blade to clear the path of snow drifts. Two of the four containers: The closer one
is for storage of food, tools, trash, etc. The one further away contains five
bedrooms, each shared by two persons. Thanks, Kevin, for giving us a tour! Here he is showing us the bunk beds for sleeping along the trail. Another tractor. The white container in the background holds the generators for power and heat along the trail. Generators for providing power and heat on the road. The traverse itself uses roughly 150 000 liters of fuel for the way back and forth to the south pole. This fuel is needed for powering the tractors, for generating power, and for heating. The traverse is equipped with kitchen, showers, and laundry machines. This picture shows an incinerator toilet that literally burns up human excrements in order to reduce waste. The snow melter, used for obtaining water. Maps showing the route that the south pole traverse takes.

Jan 27
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Locked in for 268 days

Today is a very special day. Our last Hercules plane came in and picked up all the remaining people who are not staying the winter. Hercules are military cargo aircraft equipped with skies, bringing personnel in and out of our station, delivering food, science cargo, station supplies, and mail, and taking out trash. Each Hercules arriving also brings up to 10000 liters of fuel to us.

Watching the last plane leave was a very strange moment. The temperatures have dropped to almost -50 degrees Celsius during the last two weeks, too cold for further Hercules flights. We are now stuck here, with the same 46 people (41 men, 5 women) for the next 268 days. No supplies, no mail, no new people, whatever breaks we have to either fix somehow, or live without. The real adventure begins!

Corey directing a Hercules aircraft into its parking position. Orange 'cones' to mark a safe path for walking to and from the aircraft. I am one of the people deploying the cones (black jacket orange-red hat). The engines remain turned on during (un)loading of cargo, (un)fueling the aircraft, and while (de)boarding passengers. Fuel handling, just three meters from the running propellers. Fuel tanks at the flightdeck. Fuel hose and nozzle. Pump station. Underground fuel tanks. Passenger bags are brought to the aircraft by skimobile. Cargo handling. Cargo handling. The last passengers boarding. Our last aircraft - ready for take off. Almost everyone on station is watching. The final aircraft flying over the station saying goodbye. (Courtesy NSF/James Casey).

Feb 15
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The South Pole Telescope (first part)

Today's entry comes with special greetings to my brother in law, Andi, who asked for more pictures of "my" telescope. Here we go! My work here in Antarctica is caring for the South Pole Telescope, observing with it, sharing the observational data with colleagues in the North, and preparing a preliminary analysis of the data. The telescope has received a major upgrade this summer, consisting of a new camera with a much larger number of pixels. The pictures below show the telescope, the assembly and installation of the new camera, and what the data looks like on our screens. In part two (next week) I will show some more specifics of my work and say something about the issues we need to solve before we can start using the upgraded telescope for sciene.

An overview. There is a bunch of telescopes in the same area at the South Pole. The South Pole Telescope is
furthest to the left in the picture, observing diagonally upwards. Our building is called the <em>Dark Sector Laboratory (DSL)</em>, we share it with the BICEPS experiment. When walking to the DSL we pass by MAPO, which hosts the KECK CMB telescope and our machine workshop. The arrow points out a Hercules aircraft flying over the DSL. The Dark Sector Laboratory/South Pole Telescope seen from the station (where we live/sleep/eat). To the right: the MAPO building. The South Pole Telescope rotates around two axes and can observe anywhere on the sky. Here it points straight up, observing a source in the zenith. The red arrows indicate the path of the microwave light, bouncing off the primary mirror (the big silver dish) into the receiver cabin. There it is reflected by the secondary and tertiary mirror, and then registered in a camera (which we call receiver). The arrow points out one of our colleagues for size comparison. He or she is greasing one of the mount bearings. From inside the telescope mount: Two SPT colleagues greasing the elevation bearing. Two SPT colleagues at the base of/underneath the telescope. It's cold working outside on a metal structure, proper clothing is important. To access the receiver cabin there are doors in its floor (left-hand side arrow). The telescope is pointing straight up in the picture, which makes it difficult to access the doors. If one actually wants to get into the receiver cabin the telescope is moved to a horizontal position, so that the receiver cabin is on top of the building roof (right-hand side red arrow). The roof opens up providing direct access from the building into the receiver cabin. A look from below upwards into the receiver cabin. Here it is still mostly empty. In the far corner one sees the secondary mirror. Wendy underneath the secondary mirror. The new SPT3g receiver (our new camera, containing a set of optics and the detector array). A view of the open back of the SPT3g receiver. The receiver is being prepared for installing the readout cables. The readout electronics are cabled up and the receiver is ready to be lifted into the cabin. The receiver just about fits into the cabin.
Hoisting it up was a long and difficult process, the weight of the
camera is roughly one ton (the weight of a few cars). Safety was our utmost concern during the hoisting operation. The control electronics for the receiver. This entire rack was also hoisted into the cabin. Now the cabin is pretty much full. Climbing into it requires holding your breath and squeezing through narrow spaces. The winterovers (me and Andrew) working on test equipment underneath the receiver. First attempt of observations. Computer screen during observations.
Each oddly shaped pixel represents six individual detectors in the receiver. The detector array consists of ten hexagonal shaped wafers.
The colours show the current status of individual detectors. Test observations of the bright star-forming region RCW38. The bottom right corner shows the response of one single detector while slowly moving the telescope left and right. Each spike corresponds to the moment when we point the telescope exactly at RCW38. Me walking through the dark telescope building. The power was intentionally cut to test noise properties of the telescope. After finishing work for the afternoon, I took a nap on the telescope in the windless warm sunny air. Just -35 degrees Celsius that day!

Feb 20
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Field trip to the South Pole Solar Telescope JEFFRIES

A few weeks back we were invited to visit the JEFFRIES solar telescope, located four kilometers from station. The telescope had a very successful season, and has now been packed away. I still go running to its former location every now and then. The "road" is made of compressed snow and marked with flags, which makes the run and orientation out in the snow a little bit easier.

The solar telescope from afar. The solar telescope. The control centre is a small room under ground. The antenna provides network connections with the station. At the horizon you can see, very small, the South Pole Telescope and the station. A container serves as a visitor centre and as a room to warmp up in. Behind the visitor centre is a container housing a camping toilet, and a generator station. Francesco explaining the Sun.

Feb 27
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Field trip to the SPRESSO site

Another field trip we made a few weeks ago was to the SPRESSO site. Here, seismological equipment is buried in the ground. The site is about 8 kilometers from station, getting there gives you the real outer space experience.

Going out to the SPRESSO site in a pistenbully. Working on the seismological detectors requires digging out holes with a shovel. The equipment under ground is throroughly protected and insulated. A hatch leads to an underground communications and control system cave. The communication and control systems are located 10 meters under ground. Communication and control systems 10 meters under groud. Kevin showing real-time seismological data measured from their systems. The spikes in the data correspond to me jumping and stomping around in the snow simulating a dinosaur at south pole.

Feb 28
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The other side of the coin

When writing here I mostly focus on giving an account of the cheerful and exciting bits of being at the south pole: the logistical challenges, the state-of-the-art science experiments, the massive machinery to survive in the snow and cold, the oh-so-different and cold weather, and the fact that nothing on the sky moves the way you're normally used to.

It is not always fun to be here though. Two weeks ago, my grandfather whom I dearly love passed away in the North. Being stuck at the south pole feels like the worst place to be right now. I miss my family, my friends, real hugs from people I love, walking barefoot through the forest, and laying in the grass in the sunshine on a blanket doing nothing. I miss people in the North I didn't have the chance to talk to in a while or that I lost contact with before leaving to Antarctica, and I keep wondering how they are and if they forgot about me in the meantime. Even the people I talk to regularly or even daily, like my parents, my sister and my baby niece, my brother, Isabelle and Dafne, friends at home; I think of them all the time, and miss them, a lottleA beautiful word creation emphasizing the expression a lot: it's like a little, just a whole lot of it. . 236 days till I come home.

Very appropriate to how I felt the last two weeks, the weather has changed a lot and a white gloom currently washes out the horizon entirely. Around us only white, temperatures below -60 degree Celsius, and even our telescope one kilometer from station is barely visible from our galley. At the same time we are just a few days away from our once-a-year sunset and it's starting to get dark. Weltuntergangsstimmung. I recommend closing your eyes and listening to some piece of dramatic classical music after reading this.

I am of course well aware that I'm complaining on a very high level: from a warm room in a place with ample food, water, power, and occasionally even internet. All impossible to imagine just 100 years ago. Next on my list is therefore a reminder of how incredibly hard it was get here in the first place: the book The worst journey in the world by Cherry-Garard, published 1922, a gift for my journey I received from my parents. It starts with the beautiful sentence polar exploration is at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time which has been devised. With that in mind, lots of love, hugs, and kisses to my family and friends in the North.

White. Where is the horizon?! This illustration makes me smile. I wish I could find the original author to give proper credits for my link.

Mar 19
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Sunset at south pole

The geographical (south) pole is literally the place that the earth rotates around. Reaching your arms around it is a fun thing to do for a picture, your body in all timezones at once. This also means that, during one day, the sun just goes aroud our heads, same height above the horizon all around. No daily sunsets and sunrises, oh no! South Pole gets only one sunset per year, and it lasts roughly two-three days.

During the last month we watched summer turning into winter. With every bit of the earth's yearly orbit around the sun our shadows got longer, with the sun lower and lower on the horizon. Two days ago the sun finally disappeared behind the horizon, giving us some spectacular sunset views. Since a complete sunset takes some two days (during which the sun spirals around us slowly crossing the horizon more and more), pictures of the setting sun and the beautiful colours opposite of it can be taken in all directions.

This is also the moment to introduce Pete, the tiny penguin who mailed himself down to the south pole for a unique adventure, and Debbie, a tiny seal with a magnet in its stomach, who was my travel companion from the beginning. Dafne and Isabelle sent those two tiny ones down with me. I am considering a small photo series for children, where those two little guys go on south pole adventures ... Let's see how it turns out!

Pete and Debbie climbing the geographical south pole marker, sometime early February. The South Pole Telescope during the sunset (opposite from the sun). Did you notice the moon? The ceremonial south pole and the south pole station during sunset (opposite of the sun). The South Pole Telescope and the setting sun. The green flash, an elusive light phenomena caused by the atmosphere, visible mostly in very flat surroundings. (Picture: G. Hall)

What's up next for us? First, this weekend is marked with a sunset celebration dinner. From now on we are facing six months without sunlight, and peace and harmony in our small group will be extra important. A few weeks of evening twilight will gradually turn into complete darkness, while we watch the brightest stars and planets appear in our eternal night sky. During the four darkest months we hope for pristine dark skies for stargazing and plenty of aurora australis/southern lights. Goodbye, Sun, see you in half a year!

Mar 22-25

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Sunset dinner

Sunset at pole is a big happening. We started the day with a late lazy Sunday morning brunch, featuring omlettes, mimosas, cheese, salmon, and waffles. The staple that made me personally most happy was finding real milk - oh, how much I missed it! Peter & Peter organized a lovely little café in our climbing gym where we spent the time between brunch and dinner.

In the evening a three-course dinner was served. Nice to see everyone dressed their finest. The meal featured lovely ingredients, bison steaks, duck, blue cheese pasta with nuts (lovely taste and texture!), and salads and vegetables grown in our own greenhouse. A true highlight. Our galley staff is fantastic, and so was the Crème brûlée.

Monday after the dinner was a day off for the entire station population, giving the science experiments in the dark sector a welcome reason to invite to an open-house.

Peter's café in the climbing gym Don't know where Peter's café is? Go find the palm tree. Peter's café is located straight in the middle of summer camp. Appetizers before dinner. Lounge corner in the galley before sunset dinner. Sunset dinner. Sunset dinner. Sunset dinner. Sunset dinner. Blue cheese pasta, fresh salad - delicious. Dessert. The receiver cabin in the process of docking onto the control room roof, a demonstration of our daily work routines. Visitors from station realizing just how large the south pole telescope really is. Grant explaining the BICEP experiment. Exploring the SPUD telescope from the inside. The atmosphere changed and brought us a very last glimpse of sunlight, Monday evening The atmosphere changed and brought us a very last glimpse of sunlight, Monday evening.

Mar 26-27

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Tears in -60°C

This week we boarded up our windows with cardboard. We did it to prevent light pollution and to protect our light-sensitive experiments outside from our lamps indoors. It felt rather sad though, and symbolic for us being cut off from the rest of the world, captured in an icy cage for a long cold winter.

While applying for a job here, I read travel reports and Antarctica blogs, watched documentaries, and talked to people who did what I was about to do. Comes rather handy in the job interview. But there seems to be one topic no-one seems to dare to write about: death.

Death has turned my dream job on Antarctica into a temporary nightmare. My sister's husband, father to my two year old goddaughter, and friend of mine, died very unexpectedly at age 35. No-one tells you how bad it feels to be stuck 16 000 km from everyone you love when something like this happens. The feeling of being lost and alone, the feeling of not being there for your family, it is devastating and hard to cope with. I am lacking words to express how heartbroken and sad I feel. So I will let the image of the boarded-up windows speak for me instead.

Galley window. Hallway window. Hallway window. Computer lab/office window. Hallway window. Window in my bedroom.

For all of you who are true scientists in their hearts and are curious now to find out what actually happens when crying outside in -60°C: crying is fine. It's really the blinking that causes you trouble. Your top and bottom eyelashes freeze together instantenously. Not strongly enough to keep your eyes shut for long, but amusing enough for a brief juckle under tears and good enough to serve as a reason to find a slightly warmer place for mourning. To my sister and niece, and my family, I love you.

April 03
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The Event Horizon Telescope

In dedication to my brother-in-law Andi, who started his mornings "reading about Trump, and checking out what's new at the south pole". You are dearly missed.

The South Pole Telescope (SPT) has a secret. Hidden in an unsupicious corner in the big receiver cabin is an additional science instrument, much smaller and very special. It is a single pixel camera with very high spectral resolution, and used when SPT observes together with other telescopes. All the telescopes together form a kind of super-telescope, one that is capable of taking pictures of incredible resolution. This technique is called very long baseline interferometry (VLBI): telescopes in different places of the world observe the exact same part of the sky in unison. In the story of the Event Horizon project, telescopes are spread out covering one side of our globe: Chile, Mexico, Hawai'i, mainland US, Spain, and -drumroll- the South Pole Telesope in Antarctica. Just imagine being an astronaut (or an alien?) watching this spectacle from afar, so many big telescopes moving together in perfect harmony, perfectly synchronized like instruments in a symphonic orchestra.

Data is recorded at each telescope site, with timestamps from an atomtic clock. Combining all single observations results in an image so good as if a telescope as large as our Earth took it. Early April we used this technique to observe the silhouette (event horizon) of the super-massive black hole in the very centre of our Milky Way galaxy. This is the first time that a black hole has been imaged directly with enough resolution to actually expect features in the image. Normally, observations of black holes are actually observations of the behavior of stars close to them. Their orbits are super-small and super-fast, and the best and only explanation we can think of is the presence of a supermassive black-hole. But taking a photo of the black hole’s event horizon is an entirely different matter. The galaxy is huge and the black hole incredibly far away. A task for the world’s largest syntetic telescope, called the Event Horizon Telescope.

Map of the EHT 2017 telescopes. The addition of the South Pole Telescopes added baselines between 7500 and 14000 km to the network. February 2017: preparations of the telescope roof for mounting the EHT mirrors. February 2017: a view of EHT in the receiver cabin, a few days before mounting the main SPT3g receiver.

What does this all mean for us at the South Pole Telescope? A lot of work, but what an incredible experience to be part of. First we prepared the telescope: check the atomic clock, turn on all instrumentation and computer systems, and verify whether everything is working right. This process revealed a bunch of issues that weren't quite optimal, insufficient vacuum in the instrument, wrong Helium pressure in the cooling lines, and a bunch of other small kinks that aren't unexpected for a complicated project like this, but that need fixing before we could start observing. After a week of hard work, repairing and re-calibrating we managed to get all subsystems up and running, hurray! During this time we also mounted mirrors onto the telescope, stealing the light from the main camera beam and reflecting it into the EHT camera instaed. The mirrors are heavy and must be handled with care, and they are mounted to the telescope roof, outdoors in the dark and cold. All telescopes in the world-wide array need to be ready at the same time though, so we didn't have much chance to wait for less wind. One last check and we could finally start our data recorders. Ready for observations!

April 2017: Secondary EHT mirror - ready to go. (Photo: Eric Hansen) April 2017: Mounting the EHT mirrors in -60 degrees Celsius and wind. (Photo: Eric Hansen) April 2017: The two mascots Pete and Debbie checking out the signal cabeling of EHT. April 2017: Telescope control system during EHT observations. April 2017: Telescope control during EHT observations.

During the 10-18 hour observation nights Andrew and I took control of the telescope. Following a minute-by-minute schedule we were moving the telescope from observation target to observation target, constantly checking the quality of our data and verifying that the telescope pointed perfectly at the right source and was well-focussed. The observation nights were long and cost a lot of concentration. It was very rewarding though, thinking of how our telescope operates perfectly in sync together with some of the other largest radio telescopes in the world. Early morning on the 12th of April we finally finished the last observations - what a beautiful feeling: we are a part of history in the world of astronomy. Results? To be expected in roughly one year: the gathered dataset is too large to transmit via satellite, uploading it would take roughly four years. We will thus wait until the first flights come in to pick up the stacks of harddrives from our data recorders for full data analysis.

April 2017: Data recorder maintenance between two observation nights. April 2017: First auroras sighted at the south pole, during one of the observation nights. Bottom left: the Moon. (Photo: Martin Wolf) April 2017: Close-up of a data recorder storage module. April 2017: Close-up of the inside of a data recorder. April 2017: The South Pole Telescope during EHT observations. Ice crystals in the atmosphere create a light pillar underneath the Full Moon. The bright speck left of the Moon is Jupiter. April 2017: Telescope control during EHT observations. April 2017: The South Pole Telescope during EHT observations, 12 hours after the previous telescope picture. The last glimpses of the Sun behind the horizon cause the clouds in the sky to light up in hauntingly beautiful colours. April 2017: The mascots Pete and Debbie celebrating finishing the last EHT night with extra special whiskey.

April 12

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Auroras above the dark sector

Sleepless night, so I went outside. And I was mindblown, realizing that every direction I look at is North. I don't mean this as a question of defining the cardinal directions, it's really an astronomical epiphany: the night sky I see right now is the only night sky I can ever see from here. It doesn't change throughout the day, it doesn't change throughout the months. With the exception of our Moon and the planets it just keeps being the same, slowly rotating once every 24 hours around the zenith right above our heads. The same stars at all time, none rising, none setting. As an astronomer it is a mangnificient thing to see, only visible at the north and south pole. What a lucky bastard I am!

From the south pole we see the sky of the southern hemisphere, which I don't really know well at all. I've only ever seen the southern skies on three short occassions: once during a visit to South Africa a few years back, a second time when seeing the Gaia launch in French Guiana, and last during a visit to Congo Kinshasa/DRC. What a great chance now to finally learn more southern constellations and to spend more time outside with binoculars. Time to put on all the warm gear I can find and to lay outside in the snow for as long as I can manage to stay.

Taken in -60°C, this picture shows the South Pole Telescope illuminated by the Milky Way and some of the first aurora australis of the winter season 2017. Jupiter is brightly visible on the lower left, Saturn is to the right of the telescope dish. This pictures was taken just a few hours after the previous one. It illustrates nicely how much auroras change, we can literally watch them change from minute to minute. It is really quite marvelous. In the bottom right corner is building 61, the power and communication's distribution hub of the dark sector. The tracks of two satellites can be seen, the upper one is probably a flare from an Iridium satellite that we use for communications. The constellation of Scorpio is visible to the right and the Southern cross with the two pointer stars in Centaurus are visible at the very top of the image. Once again, this time with annotations: This pictures was taken just a few hours after the previous one.  It illustrates nicely how much auroras change, we can literally watch them change from minute to minute. It is really quite marvelous. In the bottom right corner is building 61, the power and communication's distribution hub of the dark sector. The tracks of two satellites can be seen, the upper one is probably a flare from an Iridium satellite that we use for communications. The constellation of Scorpio is visible to the right and the Southern cross with the two pointer stars in Centaurus are visible at the very top of the image. Early May, the moon behind the South Pole Telescope. The auroras were so strong that night that they were visible despite the glaring moon light. Strong auroras above the roof of the dark sector laboratory.  The light of the moon coming from the left illuminates the snow-covered ladder and the instruments of our weather station.

April 20
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Happy Towel Day

Here's a frood who really knows where his towel is.

May 25 - happy towel day, everyone! (Wikipedia article / Deutscher Wikipedia-Eintrag)

Trying to hitch a ride through our galaxy. With towel, of course! (Picture: Martin Wolf and Daniel Michalik)

May 25

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Water, heat, electricity

South Pole station couldn't survive without water, heat, and electricity. Here is a brief tour around those facilities, including a brief visit to the vehicle maintenance garage.

Water treatement facilities Water treatement facilities Water treatement facilities One of the power generators for heat and electricity Power generators and pipe systems. A power generator partially opened up during maintenance Generator parts lined up for reassemly Generator parts lined up for reassemly Power generator cooling system Power plant electrical panel Underground fuel storage Fuel tank Bulldozer Two heavy outdoor track vehicles

June 2
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Happy midwinter

Happy Midwinter! June 21 marks the day when the Sun is the furthest away from us, 23 degrees below the horizon. We celebrated the midwinter weekend with a beard and moustache competition, a fancy dinner, an interactive murder mystery roleplaying game, a midwinter poker tournament next day, and the traditional movie screening of The Shining.

Beard competition - some of the contestants. Beard competition - presenting the beard to the jury. Midwinter dinner - table settings (Photo: James Casey) Appetizers and welcome drinks before dinner (Photo: Dave Riebel) Dinner menu (Photo: Martin Wolf) The galley crew presenting some of the different courses of the midwinter dinner (Photo: Martin Wolf) Record low temperatures on midwinter day: -73 °C (negative 100 Fahrenheit) (Photo: Dave Riebel) Desert: chocolate lava cake, homemade vanilla ice cream. Delicious! (Photo: Hunter Davis) Traditional midwinter screening of <em>The Shining</em> (Photo: Gavin Chensue) Midwinter poker tournament (Photo: Gavin Chensue). idwinter poker tournament (Photo: Gavin Chensue). All Antarctica winter stations exchange midwinter greetings with each other. This is ours. One of our south pole station midwinter 2017 group photos.

June 21
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A visit to SuperDARN

About a kilometer from the station is an installation of high frequency radar antennae observing plasma in the ionosphere and other geomagentic features. Together with 34 other stations this forms the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN). During one cold night, Viktor, Hunter, and me went out to shoot pictures out there. The auroras were absolutely breathtaking, see for yourself!

The south pole SuperDARN data acquisition centre SuperDARN antennae around the data acquisition building Viktor and Hunter shooting aurora pictures SuperDARN antennae and auroras SuperDARN antennae and auroras

June 30
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Citius, Altius, Fortius - The South Pole Winter Games (Polelympics)

It is early July and a daily routine has set in. Time to mix things up a bit! We present: the polympic winter games 2017. Eleven competitions, both indoors and outdoors, all following the Olympic creed: The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.

The South Pole Winter Games - announcement board (Photo: James Casey) Presentation of the medals and the Polelympic Flame. Peter - the man behind the games. The winter game schedules. Discipline 1 - beer can staircase sprint in -50°C Discipline 1 - beer can staircase sprint in -50°C Discipline 2 - ping pong Discipline 2 - ping pong Disciplines 2 and 3 - ping pong - photography Disciplines 2 and 3 - ping pong - photography Discipline 4 - individual sled pull from the geographical pole to the ceremonial pole. (Photo: Hunter Davis) Discipline 4 - individual slep pull. Pulling a sled with a weight was absolutely exhausting and the wind was too cold for us to clean up after ourselves that day. Discipline 4 - individual sled pull. Pulling a sled with a weight was absolutely exhausting and the wind was too cold for us to clean up after ourselves that day. Discipline 5 - 10k treadmill run (Photo: Brett Baddorf) Discipline 6 - Eight ball Discipline 6 - Eight ball Discipline 7 - The board game <em>Catan</em> Discipline 7 - The board game <em>Catan</em> Discipline 8 - The computer game <em>Supreme Commander</em> Discipline 9 - Group sled pull to the ceremonial pole. The finish line is marked by lights. The red lights of some participants can be seen on the horizon. Discipline 10 - Volleyball. Discipline 10 - Volleyball. Discipline 11 - Rubix cube. The South Pole Winter Games - Pain and friendship.

July 2 - 9
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Christmas in July

It is cold, it is dark, and there is nothing but snow outside. Almost feels like Chrimas! Hence, we present: Christmas in July, fully featured with decorations, Christmas carols, gift exchange game, egg nog, and German mulled wine.

Christmas tree in the galley Decorated galley and Christmas movie marathon Sarah introducing the Christmas gift exchange Gift exchange game Gift exchange game Gift exchange game Gift exchange game Christmas decoration German mulled wine <em>Feuerzangenbowle</em>

July 23
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An aurora storm at the south pole - 12 hours in one minute

July 25
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Around the station

During the last few months I spent a lot of time shooting pictures of the night sky and the auroras. Here are a few of my personal favourites, taken around the station and the pole markers.

The entrance to the Amundsen-Scott research station. The bright light of the Moon illuminates the side of the station The geographical south pole marker Taking a selfie at the ceremonial south pole One of the marker flags that helps finding the way between different buildings The view from the observation deck of the Amundsen-Scott station Auroras above the summer camp and power plant. To the right a corner of the station building with the red-illuminated emergency exits The frozen landscape behind the station illuminated by moon light and auroras

May 19 - July 30
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A lunar eclipse from Antarctica

Lunar eclipses happen fairly regularly. Still, it felt special to see one from Antarctica. Like someone took a bite out of the Moon ...

A lunar eclipse above the frosty landscape of Antarctica, early morning of August 8. A close up of the Moon during the culmination of the eclipse. The Earth is lining up between Sun and Moon, casting a shadow onto the Moon.

Aug 8
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Today at the south pole: Moon dogs and a halo above the dark sector

A rare atmospheric phenomena: a full moon above the dark sector with a halo around it and moon dogs (small rainbow-like lights left and right of the moon). So beautiful.

Ice crystals in the atmosphere cause the moonlight to form a partial halo and moon dogs around the full moon.

Aug 10
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Three new aurora videos

Auroras dancing above the South Pole Telescope, Antarctica (July 29)

Aurora australis above the moonlit snowscape, South Pole, Antarctica (July 30)

The Milky Way and auroras above the South Pole Telescope (Aug 13)

Aug 13
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Extreme Cold Weather clothing

For anyone who wonders how one survives taking pictures in temperatures between -60 and -70°C, here is a picture of three of us just before going outside. Typically we wear a couple of different layers underneath our extra warm red coats, but most importantly we try to cover as much of our faces as possible. Wind is enemy number one, and wearing warm mittens is an absolute must to avoid painful frost injuries. Time to go outside!

Viktor, Hunter, Daniel, all geared up to take pictures outside

Aug 13
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Today at the south pole: -74 degrees Celsius

Today we reached our coldest temperature so far, -74° Celsius. Perfectly clear skies with beautiful auroras give the pole a hauntingly beautiful look. By now we can already see just a hint of light on the horizon, where the Sun will rise in four weeks time. What could possibly be better than a steaming hot sauna for such a wonderful day!

Temperature display at the south pole station View outside - the frozen landscape of the south pole illuminated by beautiful auroras and a tiny glimpse of sunlight Auroras illuminate the sky while the South Pole Telescope performs CMB field observations. The Small Magellanic Cloud is visible in the very top of the picture. The warm and cozy south pole sauna. The warm and cozy south pole sauna.

Aug 14
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Aurora pictures in the dark sector

Another beautiful day at the south pole. The extra cold temperatures led to really clear conditions and we had a perfect view of the sky, with gorgeous pink auroras. I also had a new camera on loan, hope you enjoy!

Looking up from below the South Pole Telescope Green, orange, red, and pink auroras. Because of the very clean air above south pole we rarely see such beautiful colours. The IceCube Neutrino Detectro Laboratory is on the right hand-side South Pole Telescope from below, with auroras on the horizon and the Magellanic Clouds above the telescope The BICEP telescope ground shield below the starry skies The vast empty frozen snowscape behind the dark sector. Nothing but ice for over a 1000 kilometers! Two abandoned frozen sleds waiting for the summer season MAPO - home of the science workshop and the SPUD telescope The SPUD telescope ground shield with strong auroras above it A wide angle shot of the auroras and the Milky Way above the IceCube Laboratory

Aug 14
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Today at the South Pole: First signs of dawn, a beautiful Moon

Five months of darkness are finding their end. We can no longer see the Milky Way and only bright stars are still visible.

A faint glimpse of light on the horizon behind the telescope... Just three more weeks until sunrise! The Moon and Jupiter above the Antarctic plateau

Aug 26
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Fifty shades of green

Today's post is dedicated to Isabelle, my favourite person to share a raised garden box with.

In need of a warm humid vacation? Want to escape life at the south pole? Feel like finding something fresh to eat? Today's feature proudly presents: the South Pole Greenhouse.

Entrance to the greenhouse. A perfect retreat for a glass of wine and a good book. The greenhouse lounge has a large collection of seeds. New seedlings sprouting. A new cucumber growing in the greenhouse lounge. Door to the growth chambers. Where are we? The South Pole Greenhouse! Inside one of the growth chamber. Lettuce - ready to harvest? A large variety of plants is growing in the greenhouse, here some leafy greens and lettuce Cherry tomatoes to go with the sallad. Even the flowers are edible and make for a nice decoration on a plate. Indian spinach. Fresh kitchen herbs. A weighing scale to weigh the produce when harvesting. Statistics are beautiful. The greenhouse gnome riding a turtle. Because, why not?

Sep 04
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Today at the South Pole: A shimmer of hope on the horizon

By now, only a handful of the brightest stars are still visible. We no longer need headlamps to go outside. Beautiful reds and oranges precede the sunrise. Simply magical.

The first real signs of the upcoming sunrise. Just two more weeks! 30 hours later, the light of the dawn illuminating the sastrugis

Sep 04
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Balloon launch

Meteorology and climate research are an important part of the science tasks at south pole station. To gather data at higher altitudes, instruments are tied to Helium-filled balloons and launched into the atmosphere.

The balloon inflation building Pre-launch preparations Helium pressure gauges Instrument preparations Ozone layer instrument An insulation box keeps the instruments and their batteries warm enough for transmission The meteorology probe measures data such as temperature and air pressure Taking the balloon outside Prepare for launch Lanuching a balloon is best done running Five frame video of the balloon flying off into the distance A view back towards stations A view of the VMF/storage arches (right) and the station (left)

Sep 06
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Birthday games

Couldn't think of a better way to spend my birthday at pole: board games with a few friends - and bubbly wine, can't go wrong with that!

South pole station is pretty obsessed with Game of Thrones this year. Or every year? In any case, Andrea sent us the GoT edition of <em>Clue</em>, sweet! Champagne treat

Sep 06
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Sunrise

The sunrise is fully on its way and the sky looks really pretty, painted in all kinds of shy pinks, oranges, reds, and blues. On the weekend I caught another balloon launch. In summer camp, our vehicle fleet is waiting to be thawed and put back into use. And today we finally saw the first real sunrays. Some fantastic few days!

Launch of a Helium balloon (composite of 17 individual frames). Really happy with the
way the picture turned out! Summer camp - hypertats serve as additional bedrooms if there are more people at pole than beds available in the main station. The frozen race. These vehicles were parked outside all winter and will be soon made ready for the summer. Frozen Challenger. A row of snowmobiles. Bulldozer. Snow-covered Pistenbully. Bulldozer. Sep 18, around 6pm - the first sun rays after 6 months of night. The atmosphere refracts the sunlight and leads to heavy distortions. The lines of refracted sunlight wobble and changes brightness and colour. The top line occasionally gets a bright green tint. This atmospheric phenomena is called the green flash. In the opposite direction the Earth casts a shadow onto its own atmosphere, painting the sky in purple and dark blue. Six hours later. The geographic pole marker with the rising sun. A very frosty station front behind the cermonial pole parker. And beach chairs for the ultimate sunrise toast! Sitting at the cermonial pole marker, watching the sunrise.

Sep 18
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24 hours of sunlight

At home the sun rises in the east during morning, crosses the highest point around noon, and sets in the west in the evening. The rest of the time it is below the horizon, it is night. At the geographic poles however there is no daily sunrise and sunset, no day and no night cycle. Every day the Sun moves horizontally around us at the same height, half a year long below the horizon, half a year long above the horizon: because of the Earth's orbit around the Sun the horizontal motion around our heads moves upwards about a third of a degree every day until the solstice. To illustrate how the Sun stays above the horizon throughout the day I took a series of pictures over the course of five hours. The Sun moves from right to left since we are in the Southern hemisphere. It never sets.

Wednesday, Sep 20, at 20:06 Wednesday, Sep 20, at 21:33 Wednesday, Sep 20, at 22:51 Thursday, Sep 21, at 00:54 Thursday, Sep 21, at 00:54

Sep 20
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Sunrise dinner

This weekend the station celebrated sunrise.

Friday afternoon, flag exchange ceremony: New flags for the upcoming season (Photo: John Dinovo) Exchange of the UK flag (Photo: John Dinovo) Friday evening, beautiful sunshine next to the station View in the direction away from the Sun, the horizon in beautiful orange and red Viktor demonstrating his cocktail talents at the pre-dinner bar Bar menu Grant, inventor of the <em>Hot Clifford</em> cocktail! Chef Zack introducing the food concept of the sunrise dinner. In the background: the flags that had flown outside during the winter Zack's food station, inspired by Doctor Who Station manager Wayne giving a pre-dinner speech Chef Sushi - using the freshest fish south pole can muster Chef Hunter at his Cuban sandwich food stand Ingredients for a chocolate fondue. What's the bacon doing there?! Steve rocking a colourful sunrise dress During sunrise dinner the 2018 pole marker was presented to the station. Here the cookie version. The real 2018 pole marker will remain a secret until its placement in January 2018 The Norwegian flag was signed by the station population. It will be taken to the polar exploration ship <em>Fram</em>, in commemoration of her use on Amundsen's 1910-12 south pole expedition (picture in the background). Rick happily presenting the UK flag that was flown at the ceremonial pole throughout the winter. Behind him the station flag. New games and books for the entertainment of the winter crew (Photo: Brett and Sarah Baddorf) LED badminton in the dark Board games and partying continued until late in the night

Sep 23
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Oktoberfest (updated Oct 16 with new pictures)

Ozapft is - even at the south pole!

The 2017 wintercrew celebrating Oktoberfest (Photo: Robert Schwarz) Home-made giant Brezen presented by Robert, Martin, Daniel Home-made giant Brezen (Photo: Stephanie Olcott Behind the scenes - preparing the chicken halves (Photo: Stephanie Olcott) Behind the scenes - Käsespätzle with extra cheese (Photo: Stephanie Olcott) Authentic Bavarian food: Grillhendl, Bratwürst, Käsespätzle No Käsespätzle without Röstzwiebeln! Side dishes: Obazda, Kartoffelsalat Food like home - yummy! (Photo: Robert Schwarz) Ein Prosit (Photo: Sarah and Brett Baddorf) Prost! (Photo: Robert Schwarz)

Oct 1
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The end of isolation

Dedicated to my grandma. You are dearly missed.

The first flights have reached pole. This Sunday, one Basler and one Twin Otter aircraft passed through pole. They have been flying from Canada via Chile via Rothera and are using South Pole Station for a fuel/crew rest stop on their way to McMurdo. So nice (and strange at the same time) to see new faces and hear different voices. The station officially opens in a weeks time when the first large supply flights with goods and relief crew come in.

Eagerly awaiting - the first airplane after the polar night Refueling the aircraft First flight on deck Fresh vegetables and fruit for south pole station; fresh coffee, lunch, and some other goodies for the flight crew! A photographer climbing a snow hill to get a good angle of the arriving aircraft The Basler taking off the south pole runway. The Basler continued to McMurdo after the brief fuel stop at pole. Arrival of the first Twin Otter Arrival of the first Twin Otter. Crew staying over night - new faces in the station! Two days later - Twin Otter fueling Two days later - Twin Otter departing for McMurdo Perfect photo op - flight path over the South Pole Telescope

Oct 22
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Memories of last summer: a gas station for small aircraft

Today's post comes with special greetings to Kjell, who loves aircrafts and who worked on plenty of DC-3s/Baslers.

Throughout the Antarctic summer, Basler and Twin Otter aircraft are used all over the continent to supply smaller stations and field camps. They are flown to Antarctica all the way from Canada for the four months season. Many of these aircraft pass by south pole station for refueling on their way across the continent. The south pole, a gas station?

The last post featured some pictures of our first smaller aircraft arriving at South Pole after the long polar winter. The pictures in today's post are from February 2017, the very end of the summer season. While there isn't much chance right now for picture taking, back then there was a bit more time to meet some of the crews and take some close-ups of the aircraft.

A Basler aircraft surrounded by a halo of the Sun. A Basler aircraft parked in front of the south pole station. A spare wheel of a Basler aircraft. Two cute plush animals, Pete and Debbie, for size comparison. They were sent down  by Isabelle and Dafne hoping to explore the south pole. Pump house for fuel operations. A Twin Otter on its way from the Australian Davies station to Canada. The space normally used for passengers packed to the gills with fuel and cargo.

Oct 27
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Station opening

The first LC130: South Pole station is finally open for summer operations.

The winter crew awaiting the station opening flight The first Hercules taxiing to the arrival's area Robert on his way to great the incoming crew Summer people deboarding Final goodbyes - departure of a few winterovers

Nov 1
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South Pole Communications

Internet and telephone at south pole station work via dedicated satellite connections. Geosynchronous satellites are used in the normal world for TV and communications, we use them for telephone and internet. However most of those satellites (the geostationary ones) are hidden below the horizon for us. We can only use satellites at slightly inclined (geosynchronous) or polar orbits.

We have semi-fast internet for about two hours a day (DSCS), two hours satellite time for science data and slower private internet connctions (SPTR), and another 2-5 hours of slow modem-like internet (Skynet), which is sufficient for email and telephone. In the remaining 13-16 hours we do not have internet. Emergency phone calls and emergency emails (text only) are available (in theory) 24/7 via the Iridium network. This entry shows you some of the satellite antennae and equipment used for our communications to the outside world.

The dome housing the SPTR antenna. The SPTR antenna is 5 meters in diameter. Close-up of the elevation motor and antenna electronics. Close-up of the SPTR receiver. Matt, our 2016/17 summer satcomm engineer explaining the SPTR internet routing equipment. The station and its surroundings seen from the communication radomes. The white spots in the picture are snowflakes. The large radome for the 9m antenna and the DSCS and Skynet dishes. Control electronics for data transfers on DSCS. The Skynet and DSCS antennae (left), and the out-of-order 9m dish for future use (top right). Elevation motor of the 9m dish. The station's 24/7 Iridium internet and phone system.

Feb 15 and 26 (posted Nov 12 while stuck in McMurdo)
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Ice tunnels

The ice tunnels are underground utility corridors connecting the station to the water supply and waste water installations. They are also home to memorials (shrines) of previous years' station folks. The ice tunnels are one of the most mysterious mystical parts of south pole station and access requires special precautions.

The ice tunnels are a network of underground corridors connecting the station to the Rod Well (our water well) and the sewer bulbs Access to the tunnels requires a safety training and radio check-out, or a tour guide. A map of the tunnel network. Markers show the different escape hatches, Rod Wells, and sewer bulbs. Ice shrines along the walls of the first tunnel section commemorate items of particular interest to different seasons. Winter 2012 ran out of vanilla ice cream during the polar night. Some of the 2016/2017 summer crew set up a shrine commemorating the visit of Buzz Aldrin to south pole station, humorously displaying a tissue and a cup used by the former astronaut. Cake in remembrance of the 1st Berming Man event at pole. Creepy-looking statue Ice tunnel intersection A pre-determined location for installing a gravimeter for science experiments regarding the Earth's gravitational field Pipes for sewage and fresh water run along the walls of the tunnels Current sewer outfall Abandoned fresh water pipe. Note the insulation around the two pipes Escape hatch in the middle of the tunnels Beautiful ice crystals decorate the ceiling in some places Current fresh water supply pipe of the station The main tunnel is about 600 meters / 1900 feet long The main tunnel segment contains a warming shack after about two thirds of its length Blocked entrance into an old tunnel segment. Is this where the aliens live?

Oct 31 (posted Nov 14 while stuck in McMurdo)
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Leaving pole

Winter is over! Time to go home. After a bunch of weather delays and mechanical issues with the Hercs the winter polees are finally getting ready to leave. Most of the group are on the second Herc of the season leaving on Wednesday. That aircraft brings my relief crew in, so I have to wait one day longer. After a quick turn over I end up flying to McMurdo on a small Basler - the same aircraft that passed through pole a few weeks ago when arriving from Canada. It's a beautiful flight, flying across the Antarctic plateau just a few hundred meters above ground.

Basler arriving at south pole. In the background the South Pole Telescope, BICEP, and SPUD Three cargo crates passing by while we are waiting at the passenger terminal. Those crates will go onto the next Herc and contain the hard disks and read-out computers we used for EHT in April 2017 Taxiing the NPSP snow runway. Summer camp to our left Take off! One last look back - aerial view of the dark sector Station fly-by. The telescope in the bottom left, station and summer camp in the top right. Goodbye, South Pole The Antarctic plateau. Nothing but flat and white for the next 120 minutes of flight time Cockpit view After two hours we finally reach the Trans-Antarctic mountains After two hours we finally reach the Trans-Antarctic mountains After two hours we finally reach the Trans-Antarctic mountains From here it's another two hours of flying across the Ross ice shelf. More mountains are visible along the way Almost there. One final stretch of mountains before crossing the glacier ice and sea ice that separates Ross Island from mainland Antarctica Ross Island - home of McMurdo. Bottom left: Hut point. Middle, front (triangular) mountain: Observation Hill. Between those two: McMurdo. On the right: Castle Rock Ross Island. Dark sharp mountain in the centre: Castle Rock. In front of it the New Zealand station <em>Scott Base</em> Back right: Mount Erebus Willy field - snow runway for Hercules, Basler, and Twin Otter. Willy field - bus stop for the way to town One step closer to home - the road to McMurdo Arrival in McMurdo. In the background: hut point with Scott's Discovery Hut from 1902

Nov 8 (posted Nov 14 while stuck in McMurdo)
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Eleven nights in McMurdo: Observation tube

I am stuck in McMurdo. We are waiting for a storm that was forecasted much earlier but only came a week later. Every day our flight got scheduled, the weather was nice and sunny without wind, but the forecast was bad. It then got delayed 24 hours at a time, every day, right after breakfast. Rather disappointing. Still, the delay gave a chance to decompress and to explore McMurdo and Scott Base. Today's feature: Observation tube.

Entrance into the observation tube. After climbing down a ladder one can sit behind glass in a little tube compartment under the sea ice and watch the fish, seals, and divers Sea ice from below. Diver for scale Divers at the sea floor. In the background: the observation tube with me inside (Photo: Henry Kaiser) View of the divers from the obs tube Sea angle (<em>Mollusca</em>) swimming by Sea ice from below. Tiny fish in front of it View towards the mountains from the obs tube. Dive shack 09 in the fore ground. View of the station. On the left is Hut Point with Scott's Discovery Hut Close up of the Hut Point peninsula and the Discovery Hut

Nov 8-18

Contact information

Email me at

dm.public@argafal.de
(GnuPG-ID: 0x53BE81EC, fingerprint: A854 4C0A FF1A 09DF 5433 0EF8 1CF0 0213 53BE 81EC, Download Key)

Where to find me

Currently stuck in:
McMurdo
Antarctica

Postal address

On my way home from:
Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station
Antarctica