- Earth passed the March equinox on March 20, 2025. The Northern Hemisphere is beginning spring while the Southern Hemisphere is entering autumn.
- The South Pole saw the sunset on the March equinox. For the next six months, Antarctica will undergo a perpetual night.
- Over the course of a year, there is only one sunrise and one sunset for the South Pole. As a result, researchers who do one-year tours of duty will spend half the time in daylight and half in darkness.
NOAA published this original article on April 2, 2025. Edits by EarthSky.
The South Pole begins its 6 months of darkness
In the Northern Hemisphere, March 20 signals the start of spring. It’s the start of fall in the Southern Hemisphere, where researchers and staff at NOAA’s South Pole Observatory recently witnessed the fading light of the sun and the start of six months of darkness. Ian Crocker, a South Pole station technician with NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory, said:
As the sun gets low on the horizon and temperatures continue to drop, the sky transitions from the bright, crisp blue we had seen since our arrival many months ago, to slowly reveal shades of green and orange, pink and violet.
Crocker and his colleagues will help continue NOAA’s mission at the observatory throughout the 2025 Antarctic winter, including taking measurements of ozone, greenhouse gases, aerosols and solar radiation.
Even now, a couple weeks after the equinox, the South Pole is still enjoying twilight. Check out the livecam at the South Pole.
1 sunrise and 1 sunset
NOAA’s South Pole Observatory is part of the National Science Foundation’s Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. It’s located at the geographic South Pole on the Antarctic plateau at an elevation of 2,837 meters (9,307 ft) above sea level. For nine months each year, no flights go in or out of the research station because aircraft systems don’t work in such cold conditions.
GML staff members have a one-year tour of duty at the observatory. However, they experience just one sunrise and one sunset. So consequently, they won’t see the sun rise for six months.
Crocker shares what that experience means to him:
The stark, surreal beauty of this place and this time of transition is unlike any other. It elicits feelings of wondrous awe, deep gratitude, a contemplative curiosity about the dark months ahead and knowing that this experience will leave an imprint on our lives forever.
Bottom line: On the March equinox, researchers at the South Pole saw the sunset and entered into six months of darkness. During their one year in Antarctica, they will only see one sunrise and one sunset.
Read more: Bird fossil hints Antarctica was a refuge from killer asteroid
The post The South Pole begins its 6 months of darkness first appeared on EarthSky.
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/twUeRCX
- Earth passed the March equinox on March 20, 2025. The Northern Hemisphere is beginning spring while the Southern Hemisphere is entering autumn.
- The South Pole saw the sunset on the March equinox. For the next six months, Antarctica will undergo a perpetual night.
- Over the course of a year, there is only one sunrise and one sunset for the South Pole. As a result, researchers who do one-year tours of duty will spend half the time in daylight and half in darkness.
NOAA published this original article on April 2, 2025. Edits by EarthSky.
The South Pole begins its 6 months of darkness
In the Northern Hemisphere, March 20 signals the start of spring. It’s the start of fall in the Southern Hemisphere, where researchers and staff at NOAA’s South Pole Observatory recently witnessed the fading light of the sun and the start of six months of darkness. Ian Crocker, a South Pole station technician with NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory, said:
As the sun gets low on the horizon and temperatures continue to drop, the sky transitions from the bright, crisp blue we had seen since our arrival many months ago, to slowly reveal shades of green and orange, pink and violet.
Crocker and his colleagues will help continue NOAA’s mission at the observatory throughout the 2025 Antarctic winter, including taking measurements of ozone, greenhouse gases, aerosols and solar radiation.
Even now, a couple weeks after the equinox, the South Pole is still enjoying twilight. Check out the livecam at the South Pole.
1 sunrise and 1 sunset
NOAA’s South Pole Observatory is part of the National Science Foundation’s Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. It’s located at the geographic South Pole on the Antarctic plateau at an elevation of 2,837 meters (9,307 ft) above sea level. For nine months each year, no flights go in or out of the research station because aircraft systems don’t work in such cold conditions.
GML staff members have a one-year tour of duty at the observatory. However, they experience just one sunrise and one sunset. So consequently, they won’t see the sun rise for six months.
Crocker shares what that experience means to him:
The stark, surreal beauty of this place and this time of transition is unlike any other. It elicits feelings of wondrous awe, deep gratitude, a contemplative curiosity about the dark months ahead and knowing that this experience will leave an imprint on our lives forever.
Bottom line: On the March equinox, researchers at the South Pole saw the sunset and entered into six months of darkness. During their one year in Antarctica, they will only see one sunrise and one sunset.
Read more: Bird fossil hints Antarctica was a refuge from killer asteroid
The post The South Pole begins its 6 months of darkness first appeared on EarthSky.
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/twUeRCX
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