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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Read moreGlaciers and icebergs surround the Gerlache Strait in Antarctica on February 9, 2019. #
Ozge Elif Kizil / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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Read moreGentoo penguins swim in the Gerlache Strait, north of the Antarctic Peninsula, on February 8, 2019. #
Ozge Elif Kizil / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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Read morePenguin footprints are seen on Danco Island, Antarctica, on February 14, 2018. #
Alexandre Meneghini / Reuters -
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Read moreRemnants 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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Read moreA gentoo penguin walks on the rocks of Ardley Island, home to many penguin and other bird species, on February 5, 2019. #
Ozge Elif Kizil / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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Read moreAn ice-covered mountain, photographed on February 9, 2019 #
Ozge Elif Kizil / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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Read moreThe 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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Read moreSunrise at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station on September 26, 2018. The building in the distance is the IceCube neutrino telescope. #
Luis Gonzalez / National Science Foundation -
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Read moreThis 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 -
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Read morePolar 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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Read moreGlaciers and cliffs are reflected in the waters of the Lemaire Channel near Booth Island on February 8, 2019. #
Ozge Elif Kizil / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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Read moreA crabeater seal rolls on ice near Galindez Island on February 9, 2019. #
Ozge Elif Kizil / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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Read moreThe 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. #
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Read moreIcebergs float in the Gerlache Strait on February 9, 2019. #
Ozge Elif Kizil / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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Read morePalmer 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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Read morePenguins are seen on Cuverville Island, Antarctica, on February 15, 2018. #
Alexandre Meneghini / Reuters -
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Read moreElephant seals rest on the shore of King George Island on February 6, 2019. #
Ozge Elif Kizil / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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Read moreAn orca swims past gentoo penguins in the Lemaire Channel near Booth Island on February 8, 2019. #
Ozge Elif Kizil / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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Read moreThe feet of a gentoo penguin, photographed on a rocky outcrop in the north of the Antarctic Peninsula on February 9, 2019 #
Ozge Elif Kizil / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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Read moreSeawater flows around an iceberg near Galindez Island on February 9, 2019. #
Ozge Elif Kizil / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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Read moreA penguin walks near an abandoned whaling factory on Deception Island on February 17, 2018. #
Alexandre Meneghini / Reuters -
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Read moreGentoo penguins rest on ice in the Gerlache Strait on February 8, 2019. #
Ozge Elif Kizil / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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Read moreAn elephant seal lies tangled in kelp on the shoreline of King George Island on February 6, 2019. #
Ozge Elif Kizil / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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Read morePolar stratospheric nacreous clouds are most commonly seen during the polar spring, when the sun is low. Photo taken on September 9, 2018. #
Ryan Skorecki / National Science Foundation
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