Last Light at South Pole Brings 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.

“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,” said Ian Crocker, a South Pole station technician with NOAA’s Global Monitoring Laboratory.

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.

NOAA’s South Pole Observatory is part of the National Science Foundation’s Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station — located at the geographic South Pole on the Antarctic plateau at an elevation of 2,837 meters 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.

During their one-year tours of duty at the observatory, GML staff members experience just one sunrise and one sunset — so 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.”