SPACE.com -- Rarely Seen Southern Lights Photographed at South Pole

Aurora Australis, the Southern Lights, over the geodesic dome at the National Science Foundation's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The aluminum dome has housed the main station buildings since the 1970's. Click to enlarge.

The Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights, over the flagline to a building in the clean-air sector at NSF's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Flaglines are used during the winter months at the South Pole to ensure the safety of those who have to cross the open areas between buildings during periods of high winds, blowing snow and extreme darkness. Click to enlarge.

Aurora Australis, the Southern Lights, over the National Science Foundation's station at the South Pole. This image shows the atmospheric phenomenon over a wing of the new station that the NSF is building. The new station, adjacent to the existing station, will replace the aluminum dome that has housed NSF's scientific facilities since the 1970s. Click to enlarge.

The full moon over the new and old buildings at the NSF's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Click to enlarge.

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	Rarely Seen Southern Lights Photographed at South Pole By National Science Foundation posted: 11:09 am ET 22 May 2002

Striking images of the Aurora Australis, the atmospheric phenomenon known familiarly as the Southern Lights, are available from the National Science Foundation (NSF)

Striking images of the Aurora Australis, the atmospheric phenomenon known familiarly as the Southern Lights, are available from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Like its more familiar counterpart, the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, the phenomenon is caused by the solar wind passing through the upper atmosphere. But the Aurora Australis is much less frequently observed because so few people live in Antarctica during the austral winter.

Jonathan Berry, who is wintering at NSF's Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, took the photos this month against the backdrop of the months-long polar night. NSF operates the only scientific station at the South Pole and conducts astrophysical research there. NSF also is currently rebuilding and modernizing the station in a logistically difficult, multiyear operation.

The images of the Aurora and of the full moon were taken over one wing of the new station and the existing geodesic dome at the South Pole.

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