Astronomy and Planetary Science

NASA recognizes NAU planetary scientist with prestigious Early Career Award

Posted by on May 26, 2021

Alicia Rutledge in the field.

NASA has selected Northern Arizona University assistant research professor Alicia Rutledge as one of only five early-career scientists in the country to receive funding through its Planetary Science Early Career Award (ECA) program, which “supports outstanding early-career individuals and allows them to play an increasing role in the planetary science community.”

Rutledge’s proposal, “Ice, Ice, Rock: Analog Studies in Cold Environments to Understand Past Climate,” which was selected for an award of… Read more

Mars’ moment: Planetary scientists from NAU, USGS share experiences watching Perseverance land on the Red Planet

Posted by on April 15, 2021

Artist's conception of Mars Perseverence landing.

On Feb. 18, the world watched as the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover landed on Mars and started exploring Earth’s closest neighbor. For scientists who have spent their lives researching the Red Planet, the seven-minute descent from the top of the Martian atmosphere to the safe landing on the surface was a stomach-churning combination of fear, nerves, hope and exhilaration.

NAU News spoke to researchers out of the Department of Astronomy and… Read more

Congratulations to Dominick Ryan

Posted by on April 9, 2021

Congratulations to graduating senior, Dominick Ryan (Astronomy, Chemistry,Music) on being named a recipient of NAU’s Gold Axe Award, and being named as the Standard Bearer for the College of the Environment, Forestry, and Natural Sciences!

Photo of Dominick Ryan (Gold Axe Recipient, 2021)

The tradition of the Gold Axe Award dates back to 1933, a year after the student body adopted the axe as the symbol for Lumberjack athletics. NAU adopted the tradition… Read more

Six NAU students make the list for NSF’s elite Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Posted by on March 25, 2021

Three of the six are from our NSF GRFP proposal development course (AST599). Congratulations to Andy Lopez-Oquendo (APS PhD Student), Megan Gialluca (undergrad Phys/Astro), and Ethan Taber (SES).

Congratulations also go to Ty Robinson, who once again taught his Fellowship Proposal Writing class” (AST599) in the fall 2020 semester, and who is developing a very long list of successful proposals that have come out of that class over the past few years. Ty reports that the success rate was… Read more

EMM/EMIRS Image from HOPE

Posted by on March 10, 2021

One of the first images taken by the infrared spectrometer(EMIRS) on the Hope orbiter, co-designed by NAU scientist Christopher Edwards, the first global snapshot of the Mars atmosphere produced since the 1970s Viking mission.

NAU planetary science intern leads study of Martian crust

Posted by on March 3, 2021

Ahmed AlHantoobi, an intern working with NAU planetary scientists, assistant professor Christopher Edwards and postdoctoral scholar Jennifer Buz in NAU’s Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science, led a study looking for answers to explain these magnetic anomalies. The team explored the relationships between the strength of the magnetic field on the surface and the composition of the crust in the Terra Sirenum-Terra Cimmeria region of Mars.

See the full article here.

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