Summertime in Antarctica is winding down these days, with the first sunset of the year coming to the South Pole in about two weeks. The people living and working at Antarctic coastal stations were able to experience a few weeks of constant daylight around Christmastime. Gathered below, recent images of the Antarctic landscape, wildlife, and research facilities, and some of the work taking place there.
Images From Antarctica
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Remnants of a boat belonging to an old whaling factory remain on Deception Island, which is the caldera of an active volcano in Antarctica, photographed on February 17, 2018. #
Alexandre Meneghini / Reuters -
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The IceSAT-2 research team drove almost 500 miles along the 88th parallel to record the exact elevation of the polar-plateau ice sheet in this area. Photo taken on January 9, 2018. #
Kelly Brunt / National Science Foundation -
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This is what Antarctica looks like. Flat, white, and covered with sastrugi (concrete-hard snow drifts) for thousands of miles in every direction. This photo was taken on the polar plateau at an elevation of almost two miles above sea level on January 7, 2018. #
Kelly Brunt / National Science Foundation -
Polar lights (aurora borealis/aurora australis) form when charged particles emitted from the sun hit Earth's magnetic field and collide with atoms and molecules in our atmosphere. Observing them requires perfectly dark skies without light pollution and a clear, undisturbed atmosphere. This makes the South Pole in Antarctica an excellent place for experiments observing and characterizing polar lights. Photo taken on August 13, 2017. #
Dr. Daniel Michalik / National Science Foundation -
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The floor of the Ross Sea near Little Razorback Island is dense with sea stars, urchins, and four-foot-long nemertean worms. This photo was taken by the National Science Foundation artist and writer Kirsten Carlson on November 3, 2017, as part of her research for a future polar-marine exhibit. #
Kirsten Carlson / National Science Foundation -
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Palmer Station, the smallest of the three U.S. Antarctic Program research stations, is located on Anvers Island. Arthur Harbor, full of brash ice, is shown at left, and the Marr Ice Piedmont Glacier is in the distance. Hero Inlet is the body of water shown at right. Photo taken on February 15, 2018. #
Marissa Goerke / National Science Foundation -
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