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 .