Nighttime pictures reveal Antarctica's cracking ice shelves.

You could call it the crack heard ’round the world.For years, scientists had been monitoring the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica, watching as an enormous rift in the ice grew in fits and starts. Then, on July 12, one of the largest icebergs in history broke off the shelf. (See maps that show the decades-long decline of Larsen C.)Now known as A68, the massive iceberg has completely separated from Larsen C. But for scientists concerned about polar melt, their work is only beginning. Keeping a close eye on A68 and other icebergs in the Weddell Sea is important for understanding the global effects of climate change.There’s just one problem: It is currently winter in Antarctica, and it’s totally dark.Due to a combination of Earth’s orbit and tilt, Antarctica technically has only two seasons—winter and summer. Six months of the year Antarctica is on the sunny side on the globe, and for the other six months it is shrouded in darkness.So NASA scientists have deployed a special instrument on their Landsat 8 satellite that allows them to monitor the situation no matter the season. Instead of relying on visual light, the Thermal Infrared Sensor, or TIRS, is able to capture pictures by measuring the differences in temperature between the water and the ice.Iceberg the Size of Delaware Breaks Free in Antarctica