The Moon at the South Pole, a John Miller photo

John Miller of the USAP sent us this incredible photo from the South Pole. (See photo at left.) It is of the Moon, strangely with the glow of a cross, over the ice near the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica, which is where he is now with our other pen pals. You will note the flags as well. The sun is not shining there now but will return in later September.

Here is some of what John wrote to us:

"Hello everyone from the dark side of the world. Hope everyone is having a pleasant summer and enjoying sunshine and warm temperatures. We are heading into the last really dark days of winter with the passing of the moon which won’t come back for another two weeks, and then about two weeks past that the sun will begin to peek above the horizon once again with the solstice coming on September 21st.
I took some good pictures of the moon, which was almost full, that had rays shooting out of four sides in the shape of a cross. The sight of this cross was absolutely awe inspiring; pictures do not do the sight justice. If you look closely you can see a very faint aurora in the picture as well."

(Thanks again, John, for the amazing photo from Antarctica. -- Adrian)