Thursday, June 21, 2001

The Darkest Evening of the Year

There has been no light from the sun since its last weak rays drowned below the horizon in May with the onset of Astronomical Twilight. No day is longer or shorter than any other at the South Pole.

So while many people around the world celebrate their shortest or longest day at Solstice, we celebrate something just as significant: the middle of our one long winter night.

This day marks the halfway point of the Antarctic winter.

Winter really began with sunset, that indeterminate moment when the sun sinks below the horizon. Winter will be over when the sun returns, an instant just as difficult to isolate. Despite the ambiguity of those benchmarks, we know for certain the sun is through moving away from us and is now coming back. One could say midwinter is the very beginning of a polar sunrise.

At 7:22 PM South Pole time (0722 UTC) a group of us went out to the Geographic South Pole to be there for the exact moment of solstice. Clad in hooded garb somewhat evocative of druids, we were there to celebrate this momentous point in time for Poleys.

We chanted in the darkness apt poems and songs to proclaim our place at the very bottom of the world at its farthest point from the sun. Some of the poems of Robert Frost apposed especially well with the winter night.

I don't get out to the Pole marker much now that it is winter. It seems farther from the station than in summer, across a desert of snow dunes and sastrugi. I thoroughly enjoyed being there in the dark, absorbing all of the still nothingness that surrounded us. The night seemed to stand tiptoe on the plateau, frozen in time as the stars and auroras danced about. It was a weird and wonderful feeling to be at the apex of arches in the dimensions of both time and place: the southernmost point at its darkest point, and our halfway point of the winter.

Midwinter is not only the midpoint between sunrise and sunset, but also between station closing and station opening. It is a time to reflect on the past four months since the last plane left and contemplate the next four months until the first plane will return.

Two antediluvian Latin phrases came to mind: tempus fugit and carpe diem. "Time flies" and "seize the day." Time has indeed flown. It has been a wonderful winter, but has been going so fast. And as I paused to ruminate beneath the shimmering dark sky, I realized that the light of the sun would soon commandeer all of the fineries worn by the night. I resolved to savor and enjoy the beauty of the matchless polar winter more often while it was still here to enjoy. I may never have the chance again.

Celebrating midwinter is not strictly reserved for Poleys. The day is sacred to people wintering on the continent at all stations. It is also an Antarctic tradition to send midwinter greetings to fellow winterers at these other bases. Traditionally, this was done over HF radio, as that was the only way to communicate with fellow Antarcticans. However, with most stations on very different time zones, it can be difficult to find a convenient time to send these greetings. Luckily, nearly every base in Antarctica now has email. So we can all receive each other's good wishes fairly quickly and reliably without having to coordinate a time to do so. We received greetings from the continental bases of many countries and their Antarctic programs, and even a few from heads of state. Here are some of the messages we received:

• Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station (from us)
• Scott Base (New Zealand)
• Maitri Base (India)
• Syowa Base (Japan)
• Brazilian Antarctic Program
• Chilean Antarctic Program
• Japanese Antarctic Program
• British Antarctic Survey
• Australian Antarctic Division
• The President of the U.S.A.
• The President of Ukraine
• RPS President
• Bill Spindler (1977 South Pole Winter Station Manager)