research overview
- Prof. Esposito is involved with US, European and Russian space missions. His expertise is in planetary atmospheres, planetary rings and numerical methods for radiation transfer and ring evolution.
- Contact Info
Esposito, Larry W Professor
Positions
Research Areas
Research
keywords
- Planetary rings and atmospheres
Publications
selected publications
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book
- Afterword The Cassini Hall of Fame. Ed. 15. 2014
- Introduction The allure of the ringed planets. Ed. 15. 2014
- PLANETARY RINGS A Post-Equinox View SECOND EDITION Concluding remarks. Ed. 15. 2014
- Preface: A personal view of planetary rings. Ed. 15. 2014
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Saturn from Cassini-Huygens Overview
2009
- Planetary Rings 2006
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chapter
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Clouds and Hazes of Venus.
Space Science Reviews.
2018
- Saturn's Rings 2014
- Clouds and Aerosols on the Terrestrial Planets 2014
- Age and evolution of rings. 116-134. 2014
- Diversity of planetary rings. 20-34. 2014
- Dusty rings. 187-202. 2014
- Explaining ring phenomena. 70-100. 2014
- Individual ring particles and their collisions. 35-53. 2014
- Jupiter's ring-moon system after Galileo and New Horizons. 172-179. 2014
- Large-scale ring evolution. 54-59. 2014
- Moons confine and sculpt rings. 60-69. 2014
- N-body simulations. 101-110. 2014
- Neptune's partial rings. 155-171. 2014
- Ring photometry and spectroscopy. 180-186. 2014
- Saturn's mysterious F ring. 135-150. 2014
- Stochastic models. 111-115. 2014
- Studies of planetary rings 1610-2013. 6-19. 2014
- Uranus' rings and moons. 151-154. 2014
- Overview. Ed. Esposito, Larry W. 2009
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Diffuse Rings.
Ed. Diffuse Rings.
511-536.
2009
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Enceladus: An Active Cryovolcanic Satellite.
Ed. Enceladus: An Active Cryovolcanic Satellite.
683-724.
2009
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Origin and Evolution of Saturn's Ring System.
Ed. Esposito, Larry W.
537-575.
2009
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Atmospheric Composition, Chemistry, and Clouds.
Geophysical Monograph.
73-100.
2007
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Exploring Venus: Major Scientific Issues and Directions.
Geophysical Monograph.
1-5.
2007
- Planetary Rings 2006
- Chemistry of lower atmosphere and clouds 1997
- Neptune’s Ring System 1995
- Optical design of the ultraviolet imaging spectrograph for the Cassini mission to Saturn 1992
- Particle properties and processes in Uranus’ rings 1991
- Sulfur dioxide and its variations 1990
- Particulate matter in the Venus atmosphere 1986
- Venus 1986
- Saturn’s rings: Structure, dynamics, and particle properties 1984
- The rings of Saturn 1984
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Clouds and Hazes of Venus.
Space Science Reviews.
2018
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conference proceeding
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A traveling feature in Saturn's rings.
Icarus.
100-108.
2014
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Characterizing the particle size distribution of Saturn's A ring with Cassini UVIS occultation data.
Icarus.
20-35.
2014
-
Small particles and self-gravity wakes in Saturn's rings from UVIS and VIMS stellar occultations.
Icarus.
36-50.
2014
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A traveling feature in Saturn's rings.
Icarus.
100-108.
2014
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journal article
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Enhanced Airglow Signature Observed at Titan in Response to its Fluctuating Magnetospheric Environment.
Geophysical Research Letters.
8864-8870.
2018
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The Search for Activity on Dione and Tethys With Cassini VIMS and UVIS.
Geophysical Research Letters.
5860-5866.
2018
-
Cassini UVIS solar occultations by Saturn's F ring and the detection of collision-produced micron-sized dust.
Icarus.
171-199.
2018
-
Particle sizes in Saturn's rings from UVIS stellar occultations 1. Variations with ring region.
Icarus.
150-166.
2018
-
Direct detection of gaps in Saturn's A ring.
Icarus.
110-118.
2017
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Sulfur dioxide in the Venus Atmosphere: II. Spatial and temporal variability.
Icarus.
1-15.
2017
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Sulfur dioxide in the Venus atmosphere: I. Vertical distribution and variability.
Icarus.
16-33.
2017
-
Investigation of diurnal variability of water vapor in Enceladus' plume by the Cassini ultraviolet imaging spectrograph.
Geophysical Research Letters.
672-677.
2017
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Cassini UVIS observations of Titan ultraviolet airglow intensity dependence with solar zenith angle.
Geophysical Research Letters.
88-96.
2017
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Introduction: Special issue on planetary rings.
Icarus.
1-1.
2016
-
Photochemical control of the distribution of Venusian water.
Planetary and Space Science.
226-236.
2015
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Molecular nitrogen and methane density retrievals from Cassini UVIS dayglow observations of Titan's upper atmosphere.
Icarus.
301-312.
2015
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A NEW UNDERSTANDING OF THE EUROPA ATMOSPHERE AND LIMITS ON GEOPHYSICAL ACTIVITY.
Astrophysical Journal.
2014
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Mathematical analysis of a model for moon-triggered clumping in Saturn's rings.
Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena.
55-62.
2013
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Scattering properties of Saturn's rings in the far ultraviolet from Cassini UVIS spectra.
Icarus.
726-739.
2013
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METER-SIZED MOONLET POPULATION IN SATURN'S C RING AND CASSINI DIVISION.
Astronomical Journal.
2013
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PLANETARY SCIENCE Rising sulphur on Venus.
Nature Geoscience.
20-21.
2013
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Cassini UVIS observations of Titan nightglow spectra.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics.
2012
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Classification of F ring features observed in Cassini UVIS occultations.
Icarus.
545-554.
2012
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Morphology of the cloud tops as observed by the Venus Express Monitoring Camera.
Icarus.
682-701.
2012
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The abundance and vertical distribution of the unknown ultraviolet absorber in the venusian atmosphere from analysis of Venus Monitoring Camera images.
Icarus.
648-660.
2012
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A predator-prey model for moon-triggered clumping in Saturn's rings.
Icarus.
103-114.
2012
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Saturn's F ring as seen by Cassini UVIS: Kinematics and statistics.
Icarus.
367-388.
2012
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Morphology and variability of the Titan ringlet and Huygens ringlet edges.
Icarus.
280-291.
2011
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Waves in Cassini UVIS stellar occultations 2. The C ring.
Icarus.
292-308.
2011
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Measurements of the helium 584 angstrom airglow during the Cassini flyby of Venus.
Planetary and Space Science.
1524-1528.
2011
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The composition and structure of the Enceladus plume.
Geophysical Research Letters.
2011
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The production of Titan's ultraviolet nitrogen airglow.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics.
2011
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The auroral footprint of Enceladus on Saturn.
Nature: New biology.
331-333.
2011
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Regolith depth growth on an icy body orbiting Saturn and evolution of bidirectional reflectance due to surface composition changes.
Icarus.
268-274.
2011
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Markov chain formalism for polarized light transfer in plane-parallel atmospheres, with numerical comparison to the Monte Carlo method.
Optics Express.
946-967.
2011
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EUV spectroscopy of the Venus dayglow with UVIS on Cassini.
Icarus.
70-80.
2011
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CASSINI UVIS STELLAR OCCULTATION OBSERVATIONS OF SATURN'S RINGS.
Astronomical Journal.
1569-1578.
2010
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Characteristics of Saturn's FUV airglow from limb-viewing spectra obtained with Cassini-UVIS.
Icarus.
270-283.
2010
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Titan's atomic hydrogen corona.
Icarus.
424-435.
2010
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Far ultraviolet spectral properties of Saturn's rings from Cassini UVIS.
Icarus.
458-466.
2010
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Introduction to special section on Saturn's rings and icy satellites from Cassini.
Icarus.
381-381.
2010
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An Evolving View of Saturn's Dynamic Rings.
Science.
1470-1475.
2010
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Composition, Structure, Dynamics, and Evolution of Saturn's Rings.
Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
383-410.
2010
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Density waves in Cassini UVIS stellar occultations 1. The Cassini Division.
Icarus.
574-580.
2009
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IDENTIFICATION OF SATURN'S MAGNETOSPHERIC REGIONS AND ASSOCIATED PLASMA PROCESSES: SYNOPSIS OF CASSINI OBSERVATIONS DURING ORBIT INSERTION.
Reviews of Geophysics.
2008
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Water vapour jets inside the plume of gas leaving Enceladus.
Nature: New biology.
477-479.
2008
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Radiation transport of heliospheric Lyman-alpha from combined Cassini and Voyager data sets.
Astronomy and Astrophysics.
21-28.
2008
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Titan airglow spectra from the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph: FUV disk analysis.
Geophysical Research Letters.
2008
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Moonlets and clumps in Saturn's F ring.
Icarus.
278-289.
2008
-
Titan airglow spectra from Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS): EUV analysis.
Geophysical Research Letters.
2007
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Venus monitoring camera for Venus express.
Planetary and Space Science.
1701-1711.
2007
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Self-gravity wakes and radial structure of Saturn's B ring.
Icarus.
127-144.
2007
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Monte Carlo simulations of the water vapor plumes on Enceladus.
Icarus.
154-161.
2007
-
Self-gravity wakes in Saturn's A ring measured by stellar occultations from Cassini.
Geophysical Research Letters.
2006
-
Enceladus' water vapor plume.
Science.
1422-1425.
2006
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Cassini UVIS observations of Jupiter's auroral variability.
Icarus.
312-326.
2005
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The Cassini Campaign observations of the Jupiter aurora by the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph.
Icarus.
327-345.
2005
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The Cassini UVIS stellar probe of the Titan atmosphere.
Science.
978-982.
2005
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Ultraviolet Imaging Spectroscopy shows an active saturnian system.
Science.
1251-1255.
2005
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The size distribution of Jupiter's main ring from Galileo imaging and spectroscopy.
Icarus.
35-57.
2004
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The Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph investigation.
Space Science Reviews.
299-361.
2004
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Cassini imaging at Jupiter.
Science.
1529-1530.
2003
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Infrared observations during the secondary eclipse of HD 209458b. I. 3.6 micron occultation spectroscopy using the very large telescope.
Astrophysical Journal.
1053-1062.
2003
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Venus stratospheric sounder: first in situ measurements in upper cloud region.
Acta Astronautica.
159-164.
2003
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Planetary rings.
Reports on Progress in Physics.
1741-1783.
2002
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Moonlet collisions and the effects of tidally modified accretion in Saturn's F ring.
Icarus.
161-171.
2002
- Healthy discussion of planetary science goals. Science. 1644-1644. 2002
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Magnetospheric and plasma science with Cassini-Huygens.
Space Science Reviews.
253-346.
2002
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Saturn's rings: Pre-Cassini status and mission goals.
Space Science Reviews.
209-251.
2002
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Evidence for dust grain growth in young circumstellar disks.
Science.
1686-1689.
2001
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Fragmentation rates of small satellites in the outer solar system.
Journal of Geophysical Research.
17589-17599.
2000
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Cassini UVIS observations of Saturn's rings.
Planetary and Space Science.
1221-1235.
1998
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Meteorological observations on Martian surface: met-packages of Mars-96 Small Stations and Penetrators.
Planetary and Space Science.
779-793.
1998
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G ring particle sizes derived from ring plane crossing observations.
Icarus.
152-166.
1998
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Evolution of the G ring and the population of macroscopic ring particles.
Icarus.
28-41.
1997
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Is disulfur monoxide a second absorber on Venus?.
Icarus.
364-368.
1997
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Accretion of the moon from an impact-generated disk.
Icarus.
427-446.
1996
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DIRECT OBSERVATIONS OF THE COMET SHOEMAKER-LEVY-9 FRAGMENT-G IMPACT BY GALILEO UVS.
Geophysical Research Letters.
1565-1568.
1995
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ACCRETION IN THE ROCHE ZONE - COEXISTENCE OF RINGS AND RINGMOONS.
Icarus.
331-352.
1995
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DETECTION OF HIDDEN RESONANCES IN SATURNS B-RING.
Icarus.
206-212.
1995
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SULFUR-DIOXIDE IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF VENUS .2. MODELING RESULTS.
Icarus.
389-395.
1994
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OPTICAL DESIGN OF THE ULTRAVIOLET IMAGING SPECTROGRAPH FOR THE CASSINI MISSION TO SATURN.
Optical Engineering.
3038-3046.
1993
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SO2 IN THE MIDDLE ATMOSPHERE OF VENUS - IR MEASUREMENTS FROM VENERA-15 AND COMPARISON TO UV DATA.
Icarus.
92-109.
1993
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ORIGINS OF THE RINGS OF URANUS AND NEPTUNE .2. INITIAL CONDITIONS AND RING MOON POPULATIONS.
Journal of Geophysical Research.
7387-7401.
1993
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UNDERSTANDING PLANETARY RINGS.
Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
487-523.
1993
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PLANETARY SCIENCE - RUNNING RINGS ROUND MODELERS.
Nature: New biology.
531-532.
1992
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NUMERICAL-SIMULATION OF SATELLITE RING INTERACTIONS - RESONANCES AND SATELLITE RING TORQUES.
Icarus.
412-433.
1992
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ORIGINS OF THE RINGS OF URANUS AND NEPTUNE .1. STATISTICS OF SATELLITE DISRUPTIONS.
Journal of Geophysical Research.
10227-10241.
1992
- GALILEO ULTRAVIOLET SPECTROMETER EXPERIMENT. Space Science Reviews. 503-530. 1992
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PLANETARY RINGS - EVER DECREASING CIRCLES.
Nature: New biology.
107-107.
1991
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GALILEO ULTRAVIOLET SPECTROMETER EXPERIMENT - INITIAL VENUS AND INTERPLANETARY CRUISE RESULTS.
Science.
1548-1550.
1991
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THE CHEMICAL-COMPOSITION OF THE DUST-FREE MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE - PRELIMINARY-RESULTS OF A 2-DIMENSIONAL MODEL.
Journal of Geophysical Research.
7933-7945.
1991
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CHARACTERISTICS OF AEROSOL PHENOMENA IN MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE FROM KRFM EXPERIMENT DATA.
Planetary and Space Science.
199-207.
1991
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A MODEL OF DUST PRODUCTION IN THE NEPTUNE RING-SYSTEM.
Geophysical Research Letters.
1741-1744.
1990
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A NUMERICAL-MODEL OF THE URANIAN DUST RINGS.
Icarus.
530-560.
1990
-
INTERNATIONAL ULTRAVIOLET EXPLORER OBSERVATION OF VENUS SO2 AND SO.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.
7485-7491.
1990
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A PHASE-SPACE FLUID SIMULATION OF A 2-COMPONENT NARROW PLANETARY RING - PARTICLE-SIZE SEGREGATION, EDGE FORMATION, AND SPREADING RATES.
Icarus.
133-155.
1990
-
VOYAGER PHOTOPOLARIMETER OBSERVATIONS OF URANIAN RING OCCULTATIONS.
Icarus.
102-125.
1990
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PHOTOMETRY FROM VOYAGER-2 - INITIAL RESULTS FROM THE NEPTUNIAN ATMOSPHERE, SATELLITES, AND RINGS.
Science.
1450-1454.
1989
-
CREATION OF THE URANUS RINGS AND DUST BANDS.
Nature: New biology.
605-607.
1989
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SIMULATION OF COLLISIONAL TRANSPORT PROCESSES AND THE STABILITY OF PLANETARY RINGS.
Icarus.
181-205.
1989
-
PHYSICAL-PROPERTIES OF URANIAN DELTA-RING FROM A POSSIBLE DENSITY WAVE.
Icarus.
485-492.
1988
-
SULFUR-DIOXIDE AT THE VENUS CLOUD TOPS, 1978-1986.
Journal of Geophysical Research.
5267-5276.
1988
-
TEMPERATURE AND AEROSOL STRUCTURE OF THE NIGHTSIDE URANIAN STRATOSPHERE FROM VOYAGER-2 PHOTOPOLARIMETER STELLAR OCCULTATION MEASUREMENTS.
Journal of Geophysical Research.
15030-15036.
1987
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VOYAGER-2 PHOTOPOLARIMETER OBSERVATIONS OF THE URANIAN SATELLITES.
Journal of Geophysical Research.
14905-14910.
1987
-
THE RINGS OF URANUS.
Scientific American.
52-&.
1987
-
FEATURES IN SATURNS RINGS.
Astrophysical Journal Supplement.
749-770.
1987
-
STRUCTURE AND EVOLUTION OF SATURNS RINGS.
Icarus.
345-357.
1986
-
PHOTOMETRY FROM VOYAGER-2 - INITIAL RESULTS FROM THE URANIAN ATMOSPHERE, SATELLITES, AND RINGS.
Science.
65-70.
1986
-
SATELLITE WAKES AND THE ORBIT OF THE ENCKE GAP MOONLET.
Icarus.
297-323.
1986
-
Long term changes in Venus sulfur dioxide.
Advances in Space Research.
85-90.
1985
-
SULFUR-DIOXIDE - EPISODIC INJECTION SHOWS EVIDENCE FOR ACTIVE VENUS VOLCANISM.
Science.
1072-1074.
1984
-
ECCENTRIC RINGLET IN THE MAXWELL GAP AT 1.45 SATURN RADII - MULTI-INSTRUMENT VOYAGER OBSERVATIONS.
Science.
57-60.
1983
-
PHOTOMETRY AND POLARIMETRY OF SATURN AT 2640-A AND 7500-A.
Journal of Geophysical Research.
8679-8697.
1983
-
THE STRUCTURE OF SATURNS RINGS - IMPLICATIONS FROM THE VOYAGER STELLAR OCCULTATION.
Icarus.
439-452.
1983
-
THEORETICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE GROUND-BASED PHOTOMETRY OF SATURNS B-RING.
Icarus.
174-184.
1983
-
VOYAGER PHOTOPOLARIMETER STELLAR OCCULTATION OF SATURNS RINGS.
Journal of Geophysical Research.
8643-8649.
1983
-
VOYAGER-2 PHOTOPOLARIMETER OBSERVATIONS OF TITAN.
Journal of Geophysical Research.
8699-8708.
1983
-
Voyager photopolarimeter observations of Saturn and Titan.
Advances in Space Research.
45-48.
1983
-
PHOTOPOLARIMETRY FROM VOYAGER-2 - PRELIMINARY-RESULTS ON SATURN, TITAN, AND THE RINGS.
Science.
537-543.
1982
-
POLARIZATION STUDIES OF THE VENUS UV CONTRASTS - CLOUD HEIGHT AND HAZE VARIABILITY.
Icarus.
374-390.
1982
-
Absorbers seen near the Venus cloud tops from pioneer Venus.
Advances in Space Research.
163-166.
1981
-
Pioneer fly-by of Saturn and its rings.
Advances in Space Research.
67-71.
1981
-
SATURNS RINGS - AZIMUTHAL VARIATIONS, PHASE CURVES, AND RADIAL PROFILES IN 4 COLORS.
Icarus.
187-200.
1981
-
Distribution and Source of the UV Absorption in Venus' Atmosphere.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics.
8141-8150.
1980
-
The Clouds of Venus: A Synthesis Report.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics.
8059-8081.
1980
-
Ultraviolet Contrasts and the Absorbers Near the Venus Cloud Tops.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics.
8151-8157.
1980
-
IMAGING PHOTOPOLARIMETER ON PIONEER SATURN.
Science.
434-439.
1980
-
PHOTOMETRY AND POLARIMETRY OF SATURNS RINGS FROM PIONEER SATURN.
Journal of Geophysical Research.
5948-5956.
1980
-
The clouds of Venus: A synthesis report.
Journal of Geophysical Research.
8059-8059.
1980
-
International Planetary Patrol observations of Saturn's rings. I - Observations and data reduction.
Astronomical Journal.
1402-1402.
1979
-
International planetary patrol observations of Saturn's rings. II - Four color phase curves and their analysis.
Astronomical Journal.
1408-1408.
1979
-
Extensions to the classical calculation of the effect of mutual shadowing in diffuse reflection.
Icarus.
69-80.
1979
-
ADDING ALGORITHM FOR THE MARKOV-CHAIN FORMALISM FOR RADIATION TRANSFER.
Astrophysical Journal.
661-663.
1979
-
NATURE OF THE ULTRAVIOLET ABSORBER IN THE VENUS CLOUDS - INFERENCES BASED ON PIONEER VENUS DATA.
Science.
76-79.
1979
-
SULFUR-DIOXIDE IN THE VENUS ATMOSPHERE - DISTRIBUTION AND IMPLICATIONS.
Geophysical Research Letters.
601-604.
1979
-
ULTRAVIOLET SPECTROSCOPY OF VENUS - INITIAL RESULTS FROM THE PIONEER VENUS ORBITER.
Science.
777-779.
1979
-
A curvature-radiation-pair-production model for gamma-ray pulsars.
Astrophysical Journal.
226-226.
1978
-
RADIATIVE-TRANSFER CALCULATED FROM A MARKOV-CHAIN FORMALISM.
Astrophysical Journal.
1058-1067.
1978
-
Azimuthal brightness variations of Saturn's rings. II - Observations at an intermediate tilt angle.
Astrophysical Journal.
L123-L123.
1977
-
The tilt effect for Saturn's rings.
Icarus.
157-167.
1977
-
Properties of the Hulse-Taylor binary pulsar system.
Astrophysical Journal.
L1-L1.
1975
-
Enhanced Airglow Signature Observed at Titan in Response to its Fluctuating Magnetospheric Environment.
Geophysical Research Letters.
8864-8870.
2018
editor of
Teaching
courses taught
-
ASTR 3750 - Planets, Moons, and Rings
Primary Instructor - Fall 2018 / Fall 2019
Approaches the physics of planets, emphasizing their surfaces, satellites, and rings. Topics include formation and evolution of planetary surfaces, history of the terrestrial planets, and dynamics of planetary rings. This course and ASTR 3720 may be taken for credit in any order. Elective for APS major and minor. -
ASTR 4800 - Space Science: Practice and Policy
Primary Instructor - Spring 2018 / Spring 2019
Exposes students to current controversies in science that illustrate the scientific method and the interplay of observation, theory, and science policy. Students research and debate both sides of the issues, which include strategies and spin-offs of space exploration, funding of science, big vs. small science, and scientific heresy and fraud. Recommended prerequisite: one year of college level astronomy or physics.
Background
education and training
- Ph.D., University of Massachusetts at Amherst 1978
- B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1973
awards and honors
International Activities
global connections related to teaching and scholarly work (in recent years)
- Belgium Country
- France Country
- Germany Country
- Italy Country
- Netherlands Country
- Russian Federation Country