Winter impressions – our winter in pictures
The winter is drawing to a close – in great strides. Though the Polar Night continued for eight weeks, for some time now the days have been longer light than dark. On the other hand, especially in September we were “struck” by frequent storms and heavy snowfall, which kept us close to the station. In the often-frigid but clear August nights, the fantastic Southern sky treated us to an endless tapestry of stars, frequently accompanied by polar lights. Now, the days on which we can capture our impressions in photographs are rare. And as the nights grow shorter, we have less time for stargazing. But today, let us treat you to a wealth of photos of what we found most impressive in the past few months. Enjoy!
In the Southern Hemisphere, the night sky offers a wealth of constellations that can’t even be seen in Southern Europe. In turn, the constellations we know are all upside down, and the sun and stars “move” counter-clockwise across the sky. Since there’s no light pollution whatsoever, the night sky is breath-taking. Though getting adjusted to the orientation of the stars can take a bit of time, certain constellations and particularly bright stars can help. For example, the Southern Cross essentially takes the place of the North Star – its longer axis always points to the geographic South Pole. It can be easily found with the aid of the Coalsack, a dark nebula in the Milky Way.
The two satellite galaxies Large and Small Magellanic Cloud (LMC, SMC) can easily be seen with the naked eye, not to mention a few planets. Most recently, in September, Venus was especially bright.
When it comes to colour, the sunrise and sunset can be spectacular. Especially during the Polar Night, the sun, moving “below” the horizon, paints the sky in various shades of red and yellow.
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We often see light effects in the atmosphere – e.g. as halos around the sun or as mirages, which can make objects appear “stretched” or stacked, and the icebergs appear to float above the bay.
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The sea ice never ceases to fascinate us. The surface is often coarse and uneven, which can make traverses on a Skidoo quite difficult at times.
Some of the icebergs look quite bizarre and, depending on how the light hits them, can seem to contain whole landscapes or cities on their surfaces.
And since we’re talking about the sea ice, of course we also need to mention the penguins. The massive emperor penguin colony near Atka Bay is so exciting to observe in winter because that’s when the penguins breed and eventually the chicks hatch. They start their lives under the harshest weather conditions.
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Most of us have been asked repeatedly what it’s like to go for weeks without any sun. Even if we surely all have our own reactions to the dark and twilight conditions, for some of us nothing could be finer. And nights with polar lights are simply one of a kind!
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We’ll sign off for today with some impressions of the polar lights.
Talk soon!
