Antarctica

Nacreous clouds, observed on January 6, 2011. These polar stratospheric clouds at 80,000 feet are the highest of all clouds. They only occur in the polar regions when the stratospheric temperature dips below 100 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (-73 C). They are also the site of chemical reactions that break down ozone in the upper atmosphere and contribute to the creation of the ozone hole above Antarctica.

This image shows nacreous clouds above Ross Island, Antarctica. These polar stratospheric clouds, at 80,000 feet, are the highest of all clouds. They only occur in the polar regions when the stratospheric temperature dips below 100 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. They are also the site of chemical reactions that break down ozone in the upper atmosphere and contribute to the creation of the ozone hole above Antarctica.

This is a thin section of a meteorite from the Miller Range, Antarctica. Field researchers in Antarctica have returned with more than 17,500 meteorites over the 30-plus years that the extraterrestrial material has been collected from the frozen continent. Yet meteorite science is still in its infancy, and the collected rocks still hold plenty of surprises that could shape our understanding of the solar system, according to scientists involved in the search and characterization of the…

NSF's mission is to advance the progress of science, a mission accomplished by funding proposals for research and education made by scientists, engineers, and educators from across the country.

The moon sets behind Bonaparte Point, Anvers Island, across from Palmer Station, the U.S. Antarctic Program's smallest research station.

The aurora australis over Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station on June 24, 2009. The photographer used a 3 second exposure to capture this.

The 10-meter South Pole Telescope and the BICEP (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) Telescope at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, against the night sky with the Milky Way. The red lights are used to minimize light pollution, but still enable people to see while walking to and from the facility during the six months of darkness. Both of these telescopes collect data on cosmic microwave background radiation and black matter.

In 2009, U.S researchers conducted the second field season of a deep-ice coring project in West Antarctica in order to study climate, ice sheet history and cryobiology. This project is collecting a deep-ice core from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) and integrates approximately 20 separate projects that will analyze the ice. Ultimately, the WAIS Divide project will develop climate records with an absolute, annual-layer-counted chronology of the last 40,000 years. Future lower temporal…

Aerial view of the Transantarctic Mountains.

A Snowy Sheathbill and a spectacular sunset near Palmer Station.

A shower of auroras seems to be pouring down onto the South Pole Telescope (SPT) at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The SPT, designed to study the evolution of the early universe, is the largest telescope ever deployed at the South Pole. To learn more, visit http://pole.uchicago.edu.

The moon and the aurora australis above the IceCube Laboratory at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Visit the IceCube Observatory website for more information.

An iceberg near Palmer Station, Antarctica.

The Ferrar Glacier forms a wide highway from the polar plateau to McMurdo Sound. It was named for Hartley T. Ferrar, geologist of the British National Antarctic Expedition, 1901-04.

Pictured at left is a leopard seal on the prowl at Cape Washington, Ross Island. Leopard seals are the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic (after the southern elephant seal). They are most common in the Southern Hemisphere along the coast of Antarctica and on most sub-Antarctic islands. During the summer months, the seals hunt among the pack ice surrounding the continent, spending almost all of their time in the water.

Blood Falls seeps from the end of the Taylor Glacier. Scientists believe a buried saltwater reservoir is partly responsible for the red color, which is a form of reduced iron.