Nadja Albertsen in Antarctica

First sunlight in Antartctic research station Concordia after four months of darkness.

ESA research medical doctor Nadja Albertsen writes in her blog: "Sun or not, it's quite magical.

When there are no clouds, the landscape around Concordia seems almost endless. When it is cloudy, the world seems to close in around us, in more acute isolation.

I take off my goggles for several minutes. For the first time in months, it is warm enough, and though the lenses are clear, it is still amazing to view the landscape without them. With over three months left in Antarctica, I am sucking it all up, like a giant bacon smoothie.
Light of heart and a little cold in the eyes, I go back to the base. It is lunch time and I am on table and dishwashing duty.

I am (almost) sure that tomorrow the layer of cloud will disperse, and the Sun will shine and the cold will bite again. First sunrise or not – we will eventually get so much Sun, we will tire of it. By the end of October it is all we will see."