Kudos to these faculty, staff and programs.
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- Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science (APS) associate professor Chad Trujillo co-authored the paper “Evaluating an embryo origin for detached TNOs within full Kuiper belt formation models,” published in the journal Icarus. The study’s authors used simulations to test the theory that detached trans-Neptunian objects, or minor planets that orbit the sun at a greater distance than Neptune without being influenced by Neptune’s gravitational pull, formed from protoplanets in the Kuiper belt.
- APS assistant professor Diego Munoz earned an Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Grant from the National Science Foundation for his project, “Explaining the Curious Orbits of Warm Jupiters.” The research will develop theoretical models accounting for a recently identified class of warm Jupiters, or gas giant exoplanets, to explore how these objects evolve and influence their host stars.
- APS professor Christopher Edwards co-authored the paper “The Diurnal Cycles of Dust and Water Vapor as Observed by EMIRS,” published in JGR Planets. The paper’s authors used almost three years of Emirates Mars Infrared Spectrometer data—an instrument Edwards co-developed—to observe how the amount of dust and water vapor in Mars’ atmosphere changes throughout a Martian day.
- Multiple APS affiliates co-authored the paper “Near-Discovery Observations of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS with the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility,” published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The study’s list of NAU authors comprises doctoral students Chansey Champagne and Lucas McClure, professor Josh Emery, associate professor Cristina Thomas and Research Experiences for Undergraduates alumna Megan Firgard.
- NAU alumnus Colin Chandler was the lead author of the first academic paper to use data from the Rubin Observatory’s LSST Camera, which is the world’s largest digital camera at 3.2 gigapixels. The paper’s authors also include incoming doctoral student Max Frissell, postdoctoral scholar Will Oldroyd, Trujillo and APS Chair David Trilling.
- Doctoral student Kennedy Farrell was the lead author of the paper “Recurrent Cometary Activity Discovered on Quasi-Hilda Jupiter Family Comet 362P/(457175) 2008 GO98,” published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The study’s authors—including Trujillo, Oldroyd, Chandler and NAU alumnus Jarod DeSpain—used observations from the Lowell Discovery Telescope, the Astrophysical Research Consortium telescope and the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope to track the activity of a Jupiter-family comet of interest.
- Emery co-authored the paper “Thermal-IR Observations of (152830) Dinkinesh during the Lucy Mission Flyby,” published in The Planetary Science Journal. The paper uses data from NASA’s Lucy spacecraft to profile the main-belt asteroid Dinkinesh.
- Chandler, Oldroyd, Trujillo and doctoral student William Burris co-authored the paper “A Dormant Captured Oort Cloud Comet Awakens: (18916) 2000 OG44,” published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The authors used observatory data to prove new activity is emanating from a minor planet previously thought to be both an extinct comet and an asteroid on a cometary orbit.