In February, as the polar night in Antarctica approaches, the Chinese Antarctic Expedition Team will also usher in a moment of "chasing the light". For over 30 years, researchers have explored the changing patterns of global space weather through the dazzling light and shadow of the sky. The dazzling aurora is a space weather "forecaster". The aurora is an "energy symphony" played by the sun, Earth's magnetic field, and atmosphere together. When the sun sprays out a "solar wind" composed of charged particles such as protons and electrons, sweeping towards the Earth at hundreds of kilometers per second, the Earth's magnetic field blocks the impact of the vast majority of particles. But near the north and south magnetic poles, the Earth's magnetic field lines form a convergence zone, allowing more solar wind particles to enter. High energy particles collide and excite atmospheric molecules, forming the aurora phenomenon. The various auroras dance like ribbons and are as colorful as neon lights. ”Sun Jizhi, an associate researcher at the China Polar Research Center (China Polar Research Institute) and a wintering team member at the Zhongshan Station during China's 42nd Antarctic Expedition, said that the Zhongshan Station is located at the latitude of the Earth's polar gap and is the best area for conducting related research. Li Bin, Associate Researcher at the China Polar Research Center (China Polar Research Institute), stated that in May 2025, Chinese researchers proposed the concept of "aurora ripples" for the first time internationally through comprehensive analysis of data on auroras obtained from Zhongshan Station, which suggests that the striped green light emitting structures at the edge of the aurora arc may be caused by the instability of plasma gradient drift excited by auroral deposition particles. The All Sky Imager has a fisheye lens that records the changes in light and shadow throughout the entire sky; The Aurora Spectrometer is like a "decoder of light", analyzing the wavelength of light to infer the energy of settling particles... Walking into the Space Physics Observation Building at Zhongshan Station, a comprehensive and multi tool space environment monitoring is being carried out to inform people of changes in space weather. Conducting high-altitude atmospheric physics observations in polar regions is of great significance for establishing space weather models, improving radio long-distance communication, and determining satellite orbits. ”Hu Zejun, a researcher at the China Polar Research Center (China Polar Research Institute), said. Lidar outlines the moment when auroras occur in the atmospheric "electrocardiogram", and can accurately diagnose the response of the atmosphere closer to humans. Huang Wentao, a researcher at the China Polar Research Center (China Polar Research Institute), said that LiDAR captures subtle changes in the upper atmosphere, such as sudden temperature rises and wind field disturbances, as if outlining the "electrocardiogram" of the atmosphere. The equipment installed at Zhongshan Station, such as sodium fluorescence Doppler lidar and Raman temperature measurement lidar, emits extremely fine laser beams towards the zenith. By analyzing the light signals scattered back by atmospheric molecules, it can draw temperature, wind field, and composition profiles from the ground to high altitude, and study the state and composition of the atmosphere itself. For some special space weather events, such as strong geomagnetic storms, the station area LiDAR will also cooperate with space physics observation equipment to carry out collaborative observations. ”Huang Chuan, a wintering team member at Zhongshan Station during China's 41st Antarctic Expedition, said. In Antarctica, lidar and aurora observation are collaborating to build a coupled model of "solar wind magnetosphere ionosphere atmosphere" with independent intellectual property rights, injecting core observation data. Listening to the 'cosmic whispers' on the extremely cold continent, the polar regions are a key link in global atmospheric circulation and also the most direct and intense areas where space weather affects the Earth. Intense aurora activity may also be a precursor to strong geomagnetic storms, affecting satellite navigation, communication, and power grids. ”Sun Chengzhi said that the aurora monitoring data from Zhongshan Station can be used for space weather warning, helping to safeguard the safety of space and ground infrastructure. Since 2010, Chinese scientists have established an internationally advanced polar high-altitude atmospheric physics observation system at Zhongshan Station, and together with the Arctic Yellow River Station, it has become one of the few polar conjugate observation stations and corresponding data analysis platforms in the world. In recent years, based on polar observations, China has made a series of research achievements in various fields such as auroras, polar ionosphere, and space plasma waves. It is not easy to decode the "Cosmic Whisper" in the extremely cold continent. In the extremely cold environment of minus 40 degrees Celsius, staff continue to monitor and debug the LiDAR. Huang Chuan will never forget himself and his teammates digging out the buried radar equipment from the deep snow after the snowstorm. "When it resumed normal operation, we cheered as if we had also passed the ultimate test of the polar region. (New Society)