Focus on Graduate Students

Mapping Rock Glaciers to Understand Their Future on Earth and Mars

Nov. 16, 2022

LPL Graduate Student Tyler Meng and his advisor Jack Holt developed a new method for analyzing rock glaciers, which could help scientists better understand these "hidden giants" on Earth and Mars.

Read more
Lead author and graduate student Tyler Meng standing with radar equipment on the Sourdough glacier

Scientists Identify Potential Source of 'Shock-darkened' Meteorites, with Implications for Hazardous Asteroid Deflection

Oct. 4, 2022

Study led by PTYS graduate student Adam Battle identified a potential source of a special kind of meteorite. Its characteristics could explain certain discrepancies in how near-Earth asteroids are classified.

Read more
Image of a meteor as it fell to Earth over Chelyabinsk, Russia.

As Reflective Satellites Fill the Skies, UArizona Students Are Making Sure Astronomers Can Adapt

Aug. 2, 2022

University of Arizona students have completed one of the first comprehensive peer-reviewed brightness studies to characterize mega-constellation satellites cluttering the skies.

Read more
Grace Halferty, a senior graduating this summer with a bachelor's degree in aerospace and mechanical engineering and the paper's lead author

Science Diplomacy Students Present Climate Strategy to State Department

March 24, 2022

Students from various academic backgrounds applied their classwork to take real action against climate change.

Read more

University of Arizona Students Await Photographs of Moon Crash Site

March 17, 2022

They identified and traced the path of China-launched rocket that impacted the surface.

Read more
LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) will photograph the moon crash site.

Near-Earth Asteroid Might be a Lost Fragment of the Moon

Nov. 11, 2021

A research team led by LPL graduate student Ben Sharkey thinks that the near-Earth asteroid Kamo`oalewa might actually be a miniature moon.

Read more
Artist's impression Earth quasi-satellite Kamo`oalewa near the Earth-moon system.

Plumes on Icy Worlds Hold Clues About What Lies Beneath

Dec. 16, 2020

A new model shows how brine on Jupiter’s moon Europa can migrate within the icy shell to form pockets of salty water that erupt to the surface when freezing. The findings are important for the upcoming Europa Clipper mission and may explain cryovolcanic eruptions across icy bodies in the solar system.

Read more
This artist’s conception of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa shows a hypothesized cryovolcanic eruption

Escape from Mars: How Water Fled the Red Planet

Nov. 12, 2020

New LPL-led research updates our understanding of how water escaped Mars – not like a leaky faucet but with a sudden splash.

Read more
This artist's concept depicts the early Martian environment (right) – believed to contain liquid water and a thicker atmosphere – versus the cold, dry environment seen at Mars today (left).NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

What Makes Saturn's Upper Atmosphere So Hot

April 6, 2020

New mapping of the giant planet's upper atmosphere reveals a likely reason why it's so hot.

Read more
Saturn and it's aurora. (Image: NASA)

Exploring a Desert Portal to Other Worlds

July 8, 2019

The merge between astronomy and geology, necessary to get humans to the moon, led to the birth of modern-day planetary science and a long history of field trips that continue to this day, enabling fledgling scientists to interpret data from far-off worlds without leaving Earth.

Read more
UA LPL graduate student Ali Bramson