Ice Stories
Exploratorium Home

South Pole Telescope Dispatches


Leaving on the Very Last Plane

By Kathryn Schaffer Miknaitis · February 12, 2008 · comments No comments yet
The station is closing today. It is one day earlier than we were expecting, which means we have had a last-minute scramble to finish all of our tasks at the telescope. Bad weather is approaching…
{More »}


Climactic Success

By Kathryn Schaffer Miknaitis · February 7, 2008 · comments No comments yet
Everyone here is breathing a huge sigh of relief. Last night was the first night that our new set of detectors were cold enough to be operated. Unlike the last few test runs, for this…
{More »}


The Clock is Ticking

By Kathryn Schaffer Miknaitis · February 5, 2008 · comments No comments yet
I looked up at the weather screen today and saw that the temperature had dropped to -38 F (which is actually almost exactly equal to -38 degrees C). The windchill today is about -60F. The…
{More »}


Order & Progress

By Kathryn Schaffer Miknaitis · February 3, 2008 · comments No comments yet
A few weeks ago, I posted pictures from a walking tour of the edges of the station. (To read that post, please click here.) Behind the station, construction materials, old scientific equipment, and curious miscellany…
{More »}


SPT TV

By Kathryn Schaffer Miknaitis · January 19, 2008 · comments No comments yet
Last week, I had the opportunity to drive the telescope around a lot. We're not actively observing, but we are making many upgrades to the software that controls the telescope, and trying to debug little…
{More »}


A Monumental Effort

By Kathryn Schaffer Miknaitis · January 12, 2008 · comments No comments yet
Today, what I should be writing about is the formal dedication ceremony for the new station. This morning, the flag was taken down once and for all from the top of the old dome, the…
{More »}


Our New Sunroof

By Kathryn Schaffer Miknaitis · January 5, 2008 · comments No comments yet
It's been a busy couple of weeks out at the telescope. SPT postdoc Brad Benson and graduate students Martin Lueker and Joaquin Vieira installed a new set of detectors into the SPT "receiver," which is…
{More »}


Like No Other: The South Pole Christmas Tree

By Kathryn Schaffer Miknaitis · December 25, 2007 · comments 9 comments
My new favorite thing in the whole universe is the Christmas tree at the South Pole: The second I saw it... ...I fell in love with it. As it's been explained to me, the tree…
{More »}


What Passes for Weather

By Kathryn Schaffer Miknaitis · December 24, 2007 · comments No comments yet
We're guaranteed to have a white Christmas (of sorts) here at the South Pole. But it won't snow. It is normally too cold here for any form of precipitation. The snow on the ground here…
{More »}


My Wild Ride

By Kathryn Schaffer Miknaitis · December 15, 2007 · comments 1 comment
For the last month, one of the major projects on the telescope has been measuring the surface of the 10-meter reflector and adjusting it carefully to create a very accurate surface. This entire project has…
{More »}

« Older Entries