National Science Foundation<br />Office of Legislative and Public Affairs<br />Arlington, Virginia<br /><br />For more information contact:<br />Peter West, (703) 292-8070, pwest@nsf.gov<br /><br />May 21, 2002<br /><br />Media Advisory: PA/M 02-28<br /><br />Images Available: Rarely Seen "Southern Lights" Over Amundsen-Scott<br />South Pole Station<br /><br />Striking images of the Aurora Australis, the atmospheric phenomenon<br />known familiarly as the Southern Lights, are available from the<br />National Science Foundation (NSF). Like its more familiar counterpart,<br />the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, the phenomenon is caused by<br />the solar wind passing through the upper atmosphere. But the Aurora<br />Australis is much less frequently observed because so few people<br />live in Antarctica during the austral winter.<br /><br /> <img src="http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/02/images/aurora_dome_th.jpg" alt=" - " /> <br /><br />Jonathan Berry, who is wintering at NSF's Amundsen-Scott South Pole<br />Station, took the photos this month against the backdrop of the<br />months-long polar night. NSF operates the only scientific station at<br />the South Pole and conducts astrophysical research there. NSF also<br />is currently rebuilding and modernizing the station in a logistically<br />difficult, multiyear operation.<br /><br /> <img src="http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/02/images/new_station_th.jpg" alt=" - " /> <br /><br />The images of the Aurora and of the full moon were taken over one<br />wing of the new station and the existing geodesic dome at the South<br />Pole.<br /><br />For more about what makes the South Pole a unique observatory, see:<br /> http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/media/2000/fsastro.htm<br /><br />The digital images are available as jpegs at a resolution of 300 dpi.<br />They should be credited, if published, to Jonathan Berry / National<br />Science Foundation.<br /><br />[NOTE: These images are available at<br />http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/02/ma0228.htm ]