Dawn in Antarctica

Fata Morgana mirages form when there is a band of air over the sea ice with strong temperature gradients. Light travels through air of different temperatures at different rates, and when there is a strong temperature gradient, the light bends as it goes from an object to our eyes (or camera). We record the light as having traveled in a straight line, and so we see things in places where they don't actually exist. This is true of all mirages - they are images that are contorted by light bending or reflecting off surfaces. Fata Morgana mirages are special, in that they consist of many different images stretched and distorted along the horizon. (See this wikipedia page for more information.)  One of these mirages greeted me at McMurdo Station. Mt. Discovery and the Royal Society Mountains looked like they had cliffs at the shoreline. They don't. It's just a mirage. Mt. Discovery is on the left, and the lower image shows an expanded view of the base of the mountain. The horizo...

Anne Jungblut, Daniel Bamiro, and I went for a nice walk on the sea ice around Cape Armitage this morning. It was a beautiful day with clouds that cleared up to a brilliant sun. There was a light breeze. Temperatures were a bit low at -10°C (14°F), but we had plenty of warm clothes - too warm at times. Meus amigos e eu passeimos sobre no gelo marinho perto do Cabo Armitage esta manhã. O dia estava lindo com nuvens e depois um sol brilhante. Havia uma brisa level e a temperature estava um pouco fria, a -10 graus. Mas estavamos com roupas quentes e quando caminhamos, estavamos quente. Anne e Daniel Cabo Armitage placa da trilha Me with McMurdo in the background Observation Hill Daniel e Anne com Mt Erebus ao fundo .   

Minha colega Anne e eu chegamos à Estação McMurdo na sexta-feira. Não tivemos atrasas e o tempo estava lindo. A vista do gelo marinho e das montanhas era maravilhosa. My colleague Anne and I arrived at McMurdo station on Friday. We weren't delayed and the weather was beautiful. The views of the ice and mountains were marvelous!  Our new friend Daniel Bamiro on the runway with our plane. He's headed to the South Pole. Eu com meu caminhão - Delta Dawn Anne and everyone else in the back of Delta Dawn Bela vista da janela do laboratório

I’m on my way to Lake Fryxell, McMurdo Dry Valleys, by way of San Francisco, Auckland, Christchurch, and McMurdo Station. I’ve made it to Christchurch with too much luggage. But I'm super happy to be here. I broke my ankle in August and have healed enough that it can handle the fieldwork. I am delayed a week relative to most of my team, but I'll be catching up with them soon.  Estou a caminho do Lago Fryxell, nos Vales Secos de McMurdo, passando por São Francisco, Auckland, Christchurch e pela Estação McMurdo. Cheguei a Christchurch com bagagem em excesso. Mas estou muito feliz por estar aqui. Quebrei o tornozelo em agosto e já me recuperei o suficiente para continuar o trabalho de campo. Estou uma semana atrasada em relação à maioria da minha equipe, mas logo os alcançarei. My 4 bags, but I only 3 checked from San Francisco. I had to carry everything with a lithium battery onto the plane. That included a big, heavy piece of water monitoring equipment. I then had to chec...