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Amundsen Scott Station is a cold, isolated community of scientists and support personel at the bottom of the world, the South Pole.
This is a peculiar place. Anywhere you look, you really are looking north. The station has an alpha entrance on one end and a zulu entrance on the other end. Both of them are, in reality, north entrances. Each year has only one sunrise and one sunset. From the Spring Equinox to the Fall Equinox, the sun never sets. The rest of the year the sun is below the horizon. It is cold here. Actually it is the highest, driest, coldest place that I have visited. You can see some of the research buildings in this panorama. There is also evidence of people at play. You can have fun looking around this photograph without worrying about frostbite. Believe it or not, this is the view from the window of my new office. Of course, it faces north. The 21 images of this panorama were photographed with a Nikon D80 and stitched with Autopano Pro. |
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http://GigapanMagazine.org vol 1 issue 2
Here is a panorama of the Amundsen Scott South Pole Station on the evening of December 31, 2008. The snowy landscape around the Pole is fairly quiet, as almost everyone is getting ready for the New Year’s Eve party in the gymnasium of the elevated station. We have not yet taken apart our Christmas tree, and the 2008 Pole marker remains in the snow where it was placed on January 1 of last year. Tomorrow during a 1pm ceremony, the Geographic Pole marker will change to its 2009 version, which was designed and made by the 2008 overwinter crew. The new marker will be set onto a post in a new hole in the ice that is located about 30 feet closer to the Dome. The American Flag and the sign with its brief written accounts of Amundsen's and Scott's arrival at the Pole will move along with it. The South Pole Station is situated on top of the largest sheet of ice on Planet Earth. The elevated station, the Dome, and everything else that you see here drift a little bit toward grid northwest each day. Once each year the location of the Geographic Pole is officially corrected to place it once again over the axis of rotation of the planet. In 2008, we use GPS to confirm the location of the Pole. All of this constant, predictable glacial motion and the annual marker movement create an interesting pastime for the crew and visitors to the station, especially for the folks who brought their own GPS’s to the Pole. In the summer of 1911-12, Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott had a much more difficult time confirming that they and their parties had in fact arrived at 90 degrees south latitude. On the left of the image you see the ice-carving efforts of some of the station crew. They have been working on these giant blocks for several weeks, and their art will be judged on January 4. The ambient temperature, which has now risen to approach 0 degrees Fahrenheit, makes ice carving a comfortable exercise, as long as the wind is fairly calm. It looks like they had some great ideas and that they have been busy at their task. Which carving would earn your vote? The 30 images of this panorama were photographed with a Nikon D 80 and stitched with Autopano Pro. Please enjoy The South Pole on New Year's Eve 2008. |
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At one time home to what was claimed to be the worlds biggest railway crossing / junction, Newcastle Central Railway Station is at the heart of the history of railways. Built in 1850 and designed by John Dobson, it is one of the classic railway stations of the world.
For some of my other railway gigapans see Hexham railway station at http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=2555 and Tanfield Railway engine shed at http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=3865 There is also a gigapan of Temple Meads railway station by Kilgore661 at http://www.gigapan.org/viewGigapan.php?id=21997 |
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http://GigapanMagazine.org vol 1 issue 2
Contributors: Billy Stiner, Nathan Greenland and Rose Science is the purpose of our presence at the bottom of the world, and there are certainly a lot of scientists here, but people arrive at the South Pole with a variety of job skills that are needed for building or operating Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. The two gentlemen pictured here are finishing the A-1 roof of the new elevated station. Most of the 13 summer siding carps left the South Pole before the last plane flew away on February 16, but these two carpenters will remain for the winter. This afternoon, they are working in the fading daylight, alone in the cold on a very big roof. February 27 was a beautiful clear day at the South Pole. The temperature was -52 degrees Fahrenheit. The wind was fairly constant around 9 knots and blowing from grid northeast. The wind chill was in the -80's. My camera protested with only 120 shots today, despite an extra battery warming in an inside coat pocket between panoramas. There is a lot of emphasis on safety here. You will notice the harnesses that secure my friends to the cable that runs down the center of the roof where they are working. They are about 50 feet above the surrounding ice and snow. The walking surface can get very slippery, and it is difficult to maneuver in the layers of clothing and boots that we wear outside. Even with the canvas lean-to providing some shelter from the wind, they need to be careful to avoid frostbite and hypothermia as sunset approaches and falling temperatures bring greater risk of injury. Carpenters' tools, like my camera, work better in warmer temperatures. When the sun sets below the horizon next month, these two carpenters will come inside the station to work. Their job probably won't be as difficult, and the view won't be as spectacular, but these carpenters will still be very extraordinary people who are working in a very extraordinary place. The 34 images of this panorama were photographed with a reluctant Nikon D80 and stitched with Autopano Pro. |
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The old Michigan train depot is a canvas for graffiti artists. The Michigan Central Depot was opened in 1913. The building was designed in the Beaux Art neoclassical style by architects Warren and Wetmore, and engineers Reed and Stern. The last train departed January 5, 1988 and the building was permanently closed. The decay began and the building has since been stripped to the bone by vandals. It is now a shell of its former self.
To see more photos and 360 panaramas go to http://freep.com/article/20090426/MULTI/90424089 and http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=C4&Dato=20090425&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=904250807&Ref=PH |
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Both the new South Pole Station (the large grey building), and the old South Pole Station (the half-buried geodesic dome) can be seen in this panorama. You can see the ceremonial pole surrounded by flags and the true geographic South Pole about 100 yards away (see snapshots...)
http://www.nsf.gov/od/opp/support/southp.jsp |
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We were on a Quark Explorers Cruise on the MV Professor Multanovskiy, and we were exploring the Antarctic Peninsula. It was a beautiful day a after an impressive storm at sea. We took shelter from the gale in Hope Harbor, and we were invited ashore when the weather cleared.
It was a great landing. Base Esperanza is a year-round base that is the home to several families with children. The base has family-friendly facilities not found on most Antarctic bases. There is a chapel, a community center and a school. The Post Office sells stamps, and mail sent from here got back to Alaska only a little later than I did. The folks in the yellow jackets are all cruise passengers. Some of the passengers are in the foreground, and another bunch are coming up the hill from the landing. The guys in orange are folks who live at the base. On the hill at the far right is a quartet of moulting Adelie Penguins. Even though this is very fresh snow, there are quite a few penguin footprints around the birds. They are dressed in black and white. You will notice that they are looking a bit scruffy, but when their feathers return, they will be wearing traditional sleek formal attire. Then they'll waste no time getting back into the water. See if you can find them without using the snapshot. The 37 frames of this panorama were captured with a Nikon D80 and stitched with Autopano Pro. We cruised the Southern Ocean for 3 weeks, and I saw a lot of exotic places. You can see them all in other panoramas on this gigapan.org website. |
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Here is South Pole's first passenger plane of the summer 2009-10. It is a Basler, which is a converted DC-3. The vanguard of the summer crew arrived on this sturdy little aircraft, along with some small cargo and some most-welcome fresh fruit and eggs.
We actually saw two earlier planes which stopped by for fuel on their way across Antarctica from Rothera to McMurdo. The layover for the Basler on that day was a short one. The Twin Otter, which followed about an hour behind, lingered awhile for some engine repairs, and so we had some unexpected late-winter guests. This Basler however, brings replacements for the winter crew, and so marks the end of our winter 2009 at the South Pole. It took off, as acheduled, after a very brief stay in the ground. If you look at other panoramas of the South Pole runway from this landing at Destination Alpha, you will see how the winds have changed the landscape this winter. We certainly have much larger drifts of snow than I found when I arrived in October 2008. There are also a lot of sustrugi which give you a clue about the direction of the prevailing wind. Walking in the dark this winter was sometimes a problem, as the sustrugi seemed to grow and shift position overnight. They may look soft and fluffy, but they do not provide a soft landing in a fall. The heavy equipment operators will be busy this summer, as they have the task of paring down these drifts and moving the snow to the End of the World. By the end of summer, the drifts should be gone and the landscape by the station should be smooth and flat once again. |
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Shibuya is famous for its scramble crossing. It is located in front of the Shibuya Station Hachiko exit and stops vehicles in all directions to allow pedestrians to inundate the entire intersection. Three large TV screens mounted on nearby buildings overlook the crossing. The Starbucks store overlooking the crossing is also one of the busiest in the world. (from Wikipedia) |
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I wandered around Helsinki for a few days before and after our ride on the icebreaker to the North Pole. Lost in Helsinki one fine morning, I wandered into the Helsinki Central Railway Station. where I was surprised by how few people were trying to catch a train.
The station is huge, with a surprising modern look that speaks very well for the design and maintenance of a transportation facility that was opened in 1911. The design by Eliel Saarinen has certainly stood up well to the test of time. The trains of three rail lines leave here for neighboring cities and for long-haul routes to destinations such as St. Petersburg, Paris, Monte Carlo or Madrid. Oddly there are trains to Russia and to Sweden, but there are no trains to Norway. New arrivals in Helsinki can link to the city's metro system by an underground walkway. Thisw seemed like a very comfortable place to wait for a train. Even with the help of digital cameras and my GPS, I am seldom so certain of the time I snapped a panorama as I am for this one. The 11 frames were photographed with a Nikon D80 and stitched with Autopano Pro. |