The icy continent is surrounded by the dark blue of three oceans: the Pacific to the right, the Indian to the top, and a piece of the Atlantic to the lower left. Nearly the entire continent was sunlit at this time of year, just two weeks before southern summer solstice. The arc of dark spots extending from near the South Pole (close to the center) toward the upper right is the Transantarctic Mountain Range. To the right of the mountains is the vast Ross Ice Shelf and the shelf's sharp border with the dark waters of the Ross Sea. The thin blue line along the Earth's limb marks our planet's atmosphere. (Courtesy Calvin J. Hamilton)