Cosmochemistry
About
Planetary Materials are those pieces of condensed matter that were leftover from the time that our solar system formed over 4.5 billion years ago. Current emphasis is on determining the structure of materials at the atomic scale using transmission electron microscopy. In addition, we are pursuing instrumentation to analyze samples that will be brought back from asteroids and other Solar System bodies in the 2020s.
Planetary Materials Research Group
Planetary Materials are those pieces of condensed matter that were leftover from the time that our solar system formed over 4.5 billion years ago. Such materials include interplanetary dust particles, pre-solar grains, primitive meteorites and soils from the Moon and asteroids. The Planetary Materials Research Group studies the constituent minerals within such samples at scales ranging from micrometers down to the atomic. We use information on crystal structure and chemistry to understand the conditions under which such minerals formed.
Faculty
Cosmochemistry Faculty
Jessica Barnes
Assistant Professor
Cosmochemistry, Lunar Studies, Planetary Analogs
William Boynton
Professor Emeritus
Astrobiology, Cosmochemistry, Lunar Studies, Small Bodies
Pierre Haenecour
Assistant Professor
Astrobiology, Cosmochemistry, Planetary Astronomy, Small Bodies
Dante Lauretta
Director, Arizona Astrobiology Center, Principal Investigator, OSIRIS-REx, Regents Professor
Astrobiology, Cosmochemistry, Small Bodies
Other Researchers
Cosmochemistry Researchers
Maizey Benner
PTYS Graduate Student
Cosmochemistry
Jacob Bernal
DCC Postdoctoral Research Associate (Zega), NSF Postdoctoral Fellow
Astrobiology, Cosmochemistry, Small Bodies
Elias Bloch
Researcher/Scientist
Cosmochemistry
Laura Chaves
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Cosmochemistry, Small Bodies
Samuel Crossley
Researcher/Scientist
Cosmochemistry, Planetary Analogs, Planetary Formation and Evolution, Small Bodies
Kana Ishimaru
PTYS Graduate Student
Cosmochemistry, Small Bodies
