Planetary Science Institute

❓ What inspired you to pursue planetary science as a career? 🎙️ I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but I loved science and physics in particular. So I followed what I loved and it led through different opportunities to physics, then space science, and eventually planetary science. I love planetary science because you get to explore, see, and answer questions no one has ever addressed and also work with brilliant people. ❓ Describe your most exciting career discovery or most dynamic project highlight. 🎙️ My top three are: 1. The exploration of Pluto - because who doesn't love seeing a new world come into focus? 2. Exploring Enceladus (Saturn's active moon) with Cassini and understanding how its activity works - because maybe it could host life. 3. The discovery of a thermal anomaly on Saturn's moon Mimas, because our discovery was quickly dubbed "Pac-Man on Death Star" (as the thermal anomaly looked like the '80s video icon PacMan and Mimas looks like the Death Star) - because you can't help but love that tag-line. ❓ What hobbies do you enjoy in your spare time? 🎙️ I have two young children and a full time job. What's spare time? If I do have a moment I love anything outside, particularly running and cycling. ❓ Do you have any advice for students considering a career in planetary science? 🎙️ Do it! Working in planetary science is not easy but if you love exploring, want every day to be different, to see the world, and work with brilliant people, then it could be for you. Receive more stories and Q&As like this one when you subscribe to our newsletter, the PSI Weekly Briefing: https://buff.ly/6CYEtMD

#JunoCam: Citizen Scientist Thomas Thomopoulos reprocessed an image by Gerald Eichstädt to intensity the color and contrast, resulting in this deep and dramatic view of the Solar System giant. To process your own JunoCam images, visit http://buff.ly/dCAW6H0 📸: NASA / JPL / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt / Thomas Thomopoulos

PSI In the News: Previously believed to be mostly rock, Mars' glaciers shown to be 80% pure ice Read the Earth.com story here: https://buff.ly/y56lzH9

PSI Retreat 2025 is in full swing! We've gathered to catch up with distant friends, provoke creative ideas and strategize for the future. We also celebrated birthdays and heard planetary poetry! And it's only the first day...

❓ What inspired you to pursue planetary science as a career? 🎙️ I grew up in Tucson, Arizona under a dark night sky and was always interested in astronomy. I met Clyde Tombaugh (Pluto’s discoverer) in 6th grade and always wanted to study the outer Solar System. In high school I was privileged to do an internship with Dr. Larry Lebofsky, at the University of Arizona, who introduced me to asteroid research. As an undergraduate I was blessed to work on early Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/NICMOS data of the very first Kuiper Belt Objects with Dr. Don McCarthy and I did a summer internship at Lowell Observatory with Dr. Marc Buie working on spectroscopy of Pluto and Charon. As a person of faith, I also love astronomy because, like Johannes Kepler, I view studying astronomy in a sense as "thinking God’s thoughts after Him” or alternatively (in my own words), “seeing God’s fingerprints in the heavens." ❓ Describe your most exciting career discovery or most dynamic project highlight. 🎙️ I have been involved in searches for Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) since the beginning of my career. Three discoveries stand out: (1) Discovery of one of the first KBO binaries, (88611) Teharonhiawako/Sawiskera in my thesis data. (2) Discovery of 486958 Arrokoth, the New Horizons fly-by target, during an intensive HST search in 2014, and (3) Our first picture of Arrokoth when New Horizons flew past it in 2019. ❓What hobbies do you enjoy in your spare time? 🎙️ Listening to books on tape, baking, sewing and spending time with my husband, 2 children, and our cat. ❓ Do you have any advice for students considering a career in planetary science? 🎙️ It probably goes without saying, but be a person of integrity and don’t be afraid of hard work. Identify your strengths and weaknesses, and be humble enough to ask for help when you need it. Establish healthy boundaries between your personal and professional life, and above all, find a good mentor who shares, or at least appreciates, your passions and worldview. This Q&A was featured in our newsletter, the PSI Weekly Briefing, along with a story on Benecchi's and other PSI scientists' reflections on the 10-year anniversary of the Pluto flyby by New Horizons. To read the full newsletter and subscribe, visit: https://buff.ly/dufPgE7

PSI's Kat Volk spoke with Tucson's KOLD 13 news about the recently discovered trans-Neptunian object. WATCH: https://buff.ly/H2aDw3B

Listen: https://buff.ly/pElskyH The Pinacates of the Sonoran Desert are often compared to other worlds in our Solar System. PSI's David Crown spoke with Arizona Science host Timothy Swindle about how researchers are comparing the Pinacate’s ancient lava flows to photographs taken of Mars by robotic explorers.

On the slopes of Martian mountains and craters clings what appears to be flowing honey, coated in dust and frozen in time. In reality, these features are incredibly slow-moving glaciers, and their contents were once thought to be mostly rock enveloped in some ice. Work over the last 20 years has demonstrated that at least some of these glaciers are mostly pure ice with only a thin cover of rock and dust, but according to a new paper published in Icarus, glaciers all over the planet actually contain more than 80% water ice, a significant finding. Ultimately, this means that Mars’s glacial ice deposits are nearly pure across the globe, providing a clearer understanding of Mars’ climate history and a possible resource for future utilization. Read more: https://buff.ly/AqH04CC

The object 2020 VN40 has one of the most unusual orbits ever observed. It orbits the Sun once every ten orbits of Neptune. “This is just the beginning,” said Kathryn Volk, a researcher at the Planetary Science Institute. “We’re opening a new window into the solar system’s past.” Full story:

#JunoCam: A citizen scientist's negative image of Jupiter. They noted: "Maybe this is how JunoCam shows us, almost live, the birth or death of a Jovian polar cyclone - a luminous ring that still hesitates to close. Two red circles have been added to show the difference." To process your own JunoCam images, visit http://buff.ly/dCAW6H0 📸: NASA / JPL / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstädt / Thomas Thomopoulos