One of the greatest and most long-lived scientific pursuits of humankind has been to discover and study the planetary objects comprising our solar system. Information gained from solar system observations, via both remote sensing and in situ measurements, is inherently constrained by the analytical (often chemical) techniques we employ in these end...
Published in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences
Automatic detection of outliers is universally needed when working with scientific datasets, e.g., for cleaning datasets or flagging novel samples to guide instrument acquisition or scientific analysis. We present Domain-agnostic Outlier Ranking Algorithms (DORA), a configurable pipeline that facilitates application and evaluation of outlier detect...
Published in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences
The giant planets of our Solar System are exotic laboratories, enshrouding keys which can be used to decipher planetary formation mysteries beneath their cloudy veils. Seismology provides a direct approach to probe beneath the visible cloud decks, and has long been considered a desirable and effective way to reveal the interior structure. To peer b...
Mars is the nearest planet that potentially harbors life and that can be explored by humans, so its history of water is of considerable importance. Water was abundant on early Mars but disappeared as Mars became the cold, dry planet we see today. Loss of water to space played a major role in the history of this water. Variability of components of t...
Published in American Mineralogist
This study demonstrates the synergies and limits of multiple measurement types for the detection of smectite chemistry and oxidation state on planetary surfaces to infer past geochemical conditions. Smectite clay minerals are common products of water-rock interactions throughout the solar system, and their detection and characterization provides im...
Published in Resonance
Cosmos has always sparked human curiosity to unveil and speculate its fascinating secrets. This curiosity has ultimately opened a window to other worlds. After years of observation, computation, and data analysis, scientists have revealed the diversity in exoplanets that have been helpful in the characterization and further investigation of biosign...
The composition of xenon contained within planetary materials can elucidate the conditions within which they were formed and the environments in which they have resided since formation. This work focused on extracting and interpreting xenon isotopic compositions from primitive materials with the development of new methodologies for measuring cometa...
This dissertation describes the construction of speculative planetology over the course of the 20th century. Speculative planetology is a conceptual toolkit for understanding planets as whole, interconnected systems. It has been negotiated through disciplinary exchanges among science, mass media, and public discourse. For example, climate scientist...
Terrestrial exoplanets orbiting within or near their host stars’ habitable zone are potentially apt for life. It has been proposed that time-series measurements of reflected starlight from such planets will reveal their rotational period, main surface features and some atmospheric information. From imagery obtained with the Akatsuki spacecraft, her...
The fascinating diversity in the properties of extrasolar planets and planetary systems, compared to those of the Solar System, has challenged our understanding of planetary formation and evolution. The interior of a planet holds traces of its history, and is thereby the present witness of the processes involved during its formation and evolution. ...
