What an amazing series of heavenly displays we have been treated to lately. After a long cloudy stretch we have been enjoying clear skies again - just in time for the full Moon. The above photos were taken this morning - the "portrait" was taken with a 300mm Canon lens at f/5.6, 1/320 and ISO100 - not bad for a little lens and a slightly shaky tripod! The image below that was taken a bit later at dawn and the Moon looked like the classic big cheese, only this time it was accompanied with the dignified icebergs and the beautiful hue of the shadow of the Earth. The last photo was taken yesterday evening when an amazing complement of both type 1 (NAT) and 2 (water ice) clouds appeard across the sky. It was a frozen hour with numb fingers but well worth it - these are such beautiful clouds and not just the garden variety iridescent clouds - let us show some respect here! Our cloud camera has captured numerous beautiful sunrises with Orion and Sirius with PSCs as well as Jupiter, Spica, Altair and so on. The seeing here is nothing short of spectacular - stargazers around the world spend thousands of dollars on equipment and still can't get the seeing - all you need down here is an average complement of standard camera gear (and lots of warm clothes!)

It is needless to say that as the sunlight has returned our spirits have lifted with it. I know I keep repeating myself but after a prolonged period of darkness and just a trickle of light it is amazing how seeing the sun energises the soul. I keep thinking of Isaac Asimov's "Nightfall" and the maddening influence of darkness on the entire population of the planet. Perhaps not quite as dramatic but nevertheless there is a lot of truth in the concept.

The ozone hole has started to form and I am studying the dynamics of the vortex which is now nearly completely depleted in several key chemical species (well, from the point of view of a PSC). Our lidar dataset is growing and I am trying to decide which NCEP archive I will use to construct the trajectories - I ran some tests with several archives and there were some significant differences between the results which is a worry. For the sake of homogeneity I may have to default to an archive that might not be the most accurate but if one is dealing with six years worth of data and attempting to do an intercomparison there aren't that many options. In the case of UARS vs. Aura MLS the choice is easy - take it or leave it.

I don't really miss the outside world amenities too much but one of the things I long after is the bookshop...endless hours reading books of all kinds while sipping a hot coffee....sigh. I couldn't resist ordering a book from Amazon after seeing an ad for it in an old issue of the Planetary Report - it is called "Centauri Dreams - Imagining and Planning Interstellar Exploration" by Paul Gilster. I can't wait - I will save this one for the long trip to Europe when I return from Antarctica. Have a look at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/038700436X/104-1940233-7296761?v=glance&n=283155

I love it how Amazon allows you to read bits of the books and wet your appetite until you can't resist and end up ordering the book (of course that is why they do it, not of the kindness of their hear). That said I reckon Amazon is one of the best things that ever came out of the ecommerce phenomenon. How could they ever be worried that eBooks would replace paper books - I cannot think how curling up in a comfy chair with an e-reader could possibly compare with a good quality printed works - yes it would be better for the trees but there is something in the psychological aspect of turning the pages of a book that you cannot substitute.