Auroras

All is going well here. I looked at the temperature today here and at McMurdo (840 miles on the coast). While McMurdo was a balmy -2 F (shorts and t-shirt weather) we are sitting at -94 F. Go figure. 

Last Saturday I spent some time outside when the auroras and sky was beautiful. My little camera doesn't do justice. But it still looks okay. Before I deployed in early January I started researching for a good camera. But then I wound up with the flu for two weeks and didn't want to buy just anything. Oh well. The auroras are an everyday occurrence. My time lapsed exposure is 60 seconds whereas "real" cameras are usually set at 15 seconds. But mine will work fine once there is light. The sun is at -21 degrees and rising. We should see some light when it is above -12 degrees.

On the bottom to the right of the middle is the Southern Cross. You can't tell from my picture but it is in Milky Way Galaxy band.

My friend Robert has a friend Luca currently on the International Space Station. Some of us gathered a while back to send Luca a greeting from the South Pole. I am the "faceless" one kneeling on the far right. The moon was full. Photo Credit: Robert Schwarz.

Robert is an astronomer and takes excellent pictures as in the following six. At the beginning of the season he taught a 12 week astronomy class. He maintains an excellent website of his 8 South Pole winters.

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Antarctica - best place on Earth

 www.antarctic-adventures.de