Concordia Research Station is a French-Italian facility, open since 2005, at a location called Dome C on the Antarctic Plateau. It’s 10,607 feet (3,233 meters) above sea level and about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from the geographic south pole (where the U.S. Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station has been permanently staffed since 1956). The researchers at Concordia were understandably excited this week when the sun rose there this week for the first time in four months, ending the winter darkness.
Winter darkness still reigns over much of the Antarctic continent, by the way. At the geographic south pole, the sun won’t rise again until around the September equinox.
Bottom line: Photo from ESA of the first sunrise in four months at Concordia Research Station in Antarctica.
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.
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