Research Division Seminar
The Atmospheres of Solar System Moons at UV through Radio Wavelengths

Abstract

The atmosphere of a rocky or icy moon is the interface between its surface and its orbital environment, and encodes information about both its interior processes and its interactions with its host planet’s magnetosphere. Among the outer Solar System’s major moons, atmospheres range from the tenuous, sputtered O2 atmosphere of Europa to the dense, organics-laden atmosphere of Titan. Obtaining a complete picture of the atmospheric composition and dynamics requires a multi-wavelength approach, as different observing techniques are sensitive to different chemical components, altitudes, and excitation mechanisms. This talk will present recent observations of the atmospheres of satellites in the Jupiter and Saturn systems from observatories including HST, JWST, Keck, and ALMA, and will discuss how multi-wavelength approaches are giving us a more complete understanding of the atmospheres of these moons and enabling progress on key questions.