After 2 and a half months of darkness the sun has returned to Summit Station. Over the past few weeks we have watched as the mid-day skies grew lighter each day. Any light, however diffuse, is welcome and we have had some beautiful dawn and dusk colors.
Sunrise was officially on January 28, 2018, however due to poor weather and low visibility it was obscured almost the entire week, until Saturday…
Looking out the window I could see the clouds were breaking up, and around 10am I saw the sun’s orb partly shielded by haze. Molten gold, it lit up the clouds and soon stretched its rays to the surface. As I did my station rounds I saw my shadow for the first time since November. I stared in awe as the buildings were bathed in brilliant light, windows and exhaust vents glinting, and the blue surface of the snow turned a pale gold. I blinked away the ice on my lashes and stared into the sun until it was burned into my eyes. Just feeling the light on my face was more than enough. I love the night sky and the darkness, but it must be balanced with the light.
HDR image of the sunset behind TAWO, the 10m met tower, and the GISP2 borehole
Despite the sun’s return it’s still very cold: -60F today with a windchill of -90F and the sun is above the horizon for just 4 hours. Not quite out of winter. We were also hoping to see the full lunar eclipse on Jan 31, but unfortunately just as it was becoming visible the moon slipped behind a layer of hazy clouds.
Start of the lunar eclipse on Jan 31
Back in 2015 however, I was here for another lunar eclipse that did not fail to amaze:
AntarcticArctic 
Marie, I can only Imagine what it must be like to emerge from the beauty of the darkness to such Magnificent Light! The subtlety of the sky’s colors is sublime, gold or gray! It must give everyone’s spirits a lift!
xoxoxoBonnie
Your posts are excellent! Thank you for sharing your experiences.