Thermal Mapping of the Icy Galilean Satellites
The surface compositions of the solar system's icy moons arise from a combination of intrinsic properties (formation conditions, and
endogenic processes such as past volcanism), and exogenic processing
by their environments. The thermal properties of surface materials both
provide compositional constraints, and determine the response of the
materials to solar radiation. Millimeter wavelengths probe the upper
tens of cm in icy surfaces, and are sensitive to the thermal
properties of the upper subsurface beneath the most processed
exterior. The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile is an
interferometric millimeter-wavelength observatory that is capable of
spatially resolving solar system satellites, and hence
providing maps of the thermal material properties of their
surfaces. We have developed a thermal and radiative-transfer model for
icy satellite surfaces that self-consistently links the dielectric and
thermal surface properties and allows for a characterization of how
properties such as temperature and ice porosity vary with depth in the
subsurface. We apply this model to spatially-resolved ALMA amd the VLA
observations to derive surface properties and to generate thermal maps of the Galilean satellites (Fig: residual brightness temperature map of
Ganymede at a wavelength of 1.3 mm; de Kleer et al. 2021), in order to understand their subsurface
composition and temperature profiles, and investigate the relative
roles of exogenic vs. endogenic surface processing.
AAS Nova feature: "Peering at the surface of a
nearby moon."
Remnant fragments of the planetesimals remain today in the form of
asteroids, preserving information from the early period of planet
formation and revealing the evolution and processing of these bodies
over the age of the Solar System. Remnants of large planetesimals that
differentiated before undergoing catastrophic collisions should be present
in the asteroid belt as heterogeneous fragments containing both metallic and silicate
materials. We are looking for direct evidence of these processes
through a characterization of the surface heterogeneity of large
asteroids, particularly in the M ("metallic") and S ("stony") asteroid
classes. The investigation uses high-resolution observations of
asteroid thermal emission and its polarization from ALMA and the VLA. The degree and polarization of the thermal emission is heavily influenced by the
dielectric properties of the surface, which are uniquely sensitive to
the metal content. The high spatial resolution of ALMA (~30 km in the
main asteroid belt) allows for mapping of thermal properties across
the surface of these ~200 km objects. The figure at the left shows thermal emission images of
the asteroid (16) Psyche at two points in its rotation; the circle at
the lower left represents the size of a resolution element (see 
Tidal heating plays a central role in geological activity on bodies all across the Solar System. On Io, tidal heat manifests in a clearly detectable way as large-scale volcanism, presenting a truly unique opportunity to connect interior processes to their surface expressions and unravel the mechanisms of tidal heating. The statistical properties of Io's eruptions discriminate between models of tidal heating and reveal the depth of tidal heat deposition in Io's interior. Since 2013, we have been characterizing these properties through a high-cadence adaptive optics imaging campaign at Keck and Gemini N. The dataset reveals the time-evolution of ~75 individual volcanoes over nearly 300 nights since the beginning of 2013 (
The galilean satellites exhibit a range of atmospheric compositions, thermochemical histories, and magnetic field properties. These objects therefore present a laboratory for studying universal planetary processes including the creation and loss of tenuous atmospheres and the impact of geological activity and plasma environment on surfaces and atmospheres of objects with and without magnetic fields. The atmospheres of Europa and Ganymede are sourced from sputtering of their icy surfaces, while Io's sulfur-based atmosphere is sourced by direct volcanic outgassing and sublimation of surface frosts. The tenuous atmospheres of these worlds produce subtle signatures; we study these signatures at optical and near-infrared wavelengths by observing these satellites when they are in Jupiter's shadow and the sunlight normally reflected off of their bright surfaces is absent. Using this observing technique, we have used emission from hot volcanic SO gas on Io observed at high spectral resolution to infer gas reservoirs at two temperatures (
The thermal output of Io's volcanoes reveals the properties of the eruption and magma, giving us a window into Io's interior and near-surface magma reservoirs. When individual volcanic features can be spatially resolved, we may distinguish multiple locations where magma is reaching the surface within a single volcanic complex and/or look for variations in properties across such a feature. Using this information, we can start to piece together characteristics of the magma plumbing system. In collaboration with a team at the Large Binocular Telescope, we have pushed the limits of current technology in order to achieve extreme spatial resolution on Io with the AO-assisted Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI). In 
The mechanisms that drive volcanism on Io are very different from on Earth, giving us the opportunity to investigate how the heat source and thermal history of a body impact its geophysical processes. Io's most powerful and puzzling volcanoes can serve as laboratories for probing the composition of Io's interior and the architecture of its sub-surface magma systems. Through time-domain coverage of Io's eruptions and simultaneous multi-telescope datasets, we have characterized some of Io's most energetic eruptions (Fig; 
The composition, circulation, and aerosol structure of planetary
atmospheres inform planet formation and evolution models. I study
these properties in the atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune using
near-infrared adaptive optics observations from Lick Observatory and
the Keck telescope. I have collaborated on the
development of radiative transfer code to generate synthetic
near-infrared spectra of planetary atmospheres. The synthetic models
are fit to data using a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampler to
determine the properties and distribution of atmospheric aerosols and
molecular absorbers, which inform our understanding of global
circulation patterns. By applying this code to observations of Uranus
and Neptune with the OSIRIS integral-field spectrometer on the Keck
telescope, we reconstruct 3D compositional maps of molecules and aerosols in the atmospheres of these planets. Despite major differences in heat flow and cloud activity between the two ice giants, our analysis indicates broad-scale similarities, including an extended haze layer above a compact condensation cloud (
Ring systems are an ubiquitous feature of outer Solar System
planets; the wide variety in their structure and particle properties
indicates diverse formation scenarios, ages, and evolutionary
histories. In