October, 2011 ....J.
Dana Hrubes...updated October 31, 2011, 2013 GMT
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A Kenn Borek ski-equipped Basler DC-3 lifts off from the South Pole
October is the month at the geographic South Pole when
first aircraft since February 14th arrives. A ski-equipped Basler
DC-3 arriving from the British Rothera Station on the peninsula of
Antarcica stopped at the Pole for fuel and then headed to McMurdo
Station on Ross Island on the coast. Temperatures are still cold enough
to create huge contrails.
basler landing basler taxiing basler taking off
A DeHavilland Twin Otter was the next aircraft to pass through
The weather at
the end of the month has been poor either at the Pole or McMurdo
Station so we are waiting for the Air Force LC-130 Hercules aircraft to
start their regular scheduled flights.
We've had a bit of weather like this lately with no horizon and no contrast on the snow beneath your feet
In certain types of weather, we cannot see the horizon and there is no
contrast in the ice beneath you feet, but the flags become extremely
visible.
flags, everywhere flags to the dark sector an LMC racing toward the Ice Cube Neutrino Laboratory
The
South Pole Telescope continued to
operate well this past month and we are now completing our 5 year wide
area galaxy cluster survey
using the
Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. We have now mapped 2500 sqaure degrees of
the southern sky to an unprecedented depth. 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 - Leaving for Christchruch at the end of November!
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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