Neffe Ice Cube just crossed the Antarctic Circle!!!

clicking is good

Check out Porquoi Pas Island.

from Wikipedia:

Marguerite Bay or Margaret Bay is an extensive bay on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula, which is bounded on the north by Adelaide Island and on the south by Wordie Ice Shelf, George VI Sound and Alexander Island. Marguerite Bay is located at (68°30'S 068°30'W) . Marguerite Bay was discovered in 1909 by the French Antarctic Expedition under Dr. Jean-Baptiste Charcot, who named the bay for his wife.

The Antarctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. It is at latitude 66° 33' 39" south of the equator (in 2000; like for its northern counterpart, the Arctic Circle, the value is currently slowly decreasing over time, pushing the Antarctic Circle southwards with about 15 meters per year). For everywhere within the Antarctic Circle, there is at least 24 hours of continuous daylight on the Summer Solstice in December, and at least 24 hours of continuous nighttime on the Winter Solstice in June. That is to say, one whole day during which the sun does not set, and one whole day during which the sun does not rise. This is because the earth is tilted at a 23.5° angle, and during the winter solstice, the southern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun, meaning that the antarctic circle is completely tilted away from the Sun, hence it experiences 24 hour nighttime, and vice versa. In practice these numbers are somewhat relaxed for various factors, the most important being: the atmospheric refraction, the real altitude of the observer above sea level, and mirages. Mirages on the Antarctic continent tend to be even more spectacular than in Arctic regions, creating, for example, a series of sunsets and sunrises while in reality during that period the sun was under the horizon all the time.

The area south of this circle is known as the Antarctic, and the zone to the north is the Southern Temperate Zone.

The continent of Antarctica forms a land mass covering much of the area within the Antarctic Circle.

See also
* Arctic Circle
* Summer solstice
* Winter solstice
* Obliquity of the Ecliptic

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Received within the past hour from my nephew Ice Cube the glaciologist (aka Louie, whose brothers are Huey = Utopia Guy and Dewey = Mush Boy) aboard the Antarctic Research Vessel R/V Laurence M. Gould again.

Color me THIS COLOR with envy.

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[Original Message]
From: {********@mail.lmg.usap.gov}
To: {bobmerk@earthlink.net}
Date: 6/2/2006 9:37:40 AM
Subject: Antarctic circle

Unky Munky,

Ok, I'm not writing to gloat or anything, but we crossed the Antarctic circle a couple of days ago. Now that is supposed to be accompanied by a crossing ceremony, just like crossing the equator or the prime meridian on a ship, but our chief scientist hasn't organized the hullabaloo yet. We're cruising around Marguerite Bay for several days, trawling for starfish and plankton and I got to drive the ROV (remote controlled submarine camera) under the sea ice to look for krill and algae. These researchers are looking at genetic diversity from southern S. America down to the southern end of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Of course I'm stupid to be here right now since we're down to 4 hours of daylight (during the 1 cloud-free day out of 10) and back home [Alaska] they're sun bathing at midnight (until the mosquitoes suck all their blood.)

I'll be home in 3 weeks or so and can send off the made in china sold in antarctica tchochkees I picked up in December for you. (I've only been in the US for 3 1/2 weeks so far this year.)

-- Louie