Research
Dr. Chanover's research involves the study of planetary atmospheres using
visible and infrared imaging and spectroscopic techniques. She has worked on
projects involving the upper atmospheric chemistry of Venus; measuring wind
speeds on Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn; and studying the atmospheric vertical
structure of Jupiter, Saturn, and Titan using radiative transfer modeling.
Many of her ground-based observing efforts have been in support of and
complementary to NASA spacecraft missions such as Galileo and Cassini.
Dr. Chanover is also involved in the development of new instrumentation for
planetary science, primarily acousto-optic tunable filter cameras for high
spectral resolution imaging polarimetry and/or spatially resolved
spectroscopy. Dr. Chanover is the Deputy PI for NASA's Planetary Data System Atmospheres Discipline Node, which is located in the NMSU Astronomy Department. The PDS archives all data from planetary spacecraft missions.
There are currently five graduate students working with Dr. Chanover. Sixth-year
student Jim
Norwood is modeling the seasonal variation of methane in Uranus' atmosphere using near-IR spectra acquired at the NASA/IRTF 3-meter telescope. Jim's research is supported by a NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship.
Fifth-year student Mike
Sussman is using dynamical modeling to understand the role that sunlight plays in driving the atmospheric circulation in Uranus and Neptune. Mike's work is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.
Fourth-year student Paul Strycker is using high spectral resolution images of Jupiter to characterize the coloring agents in Jupiter's atmosphere. His research is funded by grants from the National Science Foundation and NASA.
Third-year student Chas Miller is studying several time-critical phenomena related to satellites of the outer planets, including mutual events of Uranian satellites and the 2005 low-phase opposition of Phoebe. Chas is supported by an NMSU 21st Century Space and Aerospace Research Cluster Fellowship.
Second-year student Randy Carlson is studying the spatial variation of phosphine and ammonia in Saturn's atmosphere using ground-based data acquired at the IRTF as well as Cassini/VIMS data. Randy is supported by the U.S. Air Force.
Teaching
Dr. Chanover will teach the undergraduate course entitled Life in the Universe (ASTR 305G) in the Fall 2008 semester.
She has previously taught other introductory
and upper level undergraduate astronomy courses at NMSU, as well as a graduate
course on Solar System Astrophysics and directed independent studies related to planetary atmospheres. Dr. Chanover is also very involved in
public outreach; she volunteers in the local school system and she has had
several federally funded outreach programs to encourage and facilitate science
instruction in the middle school classrooms.
Publications
Selected Publications...
Resolving Dynamic Parameters of the August 2007 Titania and Ariel Occultations by Umbriel.
Miller, C. and N. J. Chanover 2008, Icarus, submitted.
HST Spectral Imaging of Titan's Haze and Methane Profile Between 0.6 and 1.0 Microns During the 2000 Opposition.
Anderson, C. M., E. F. Young, N. J. Chanover, and C. P. McKay 2006,
Icarus, 194, 721-745.
Jupiter's White Oval turns Red.
Simon-Miller, A. A., N. J. Chanover, G. S. Orton, M. Sussman, I. G. Tsavaris, and E. Karkoschka 2006, Icarus, 185, 558-562.
The Venus Nightglow: Ground-based Observations and Chemical Mechanisms.
Slanger, T. G., D. L. Huestis, P. C. Cosby, and N. J. Chanover 2006, Icarus, 182, 1-9.
Observing the Martian Surface Albedo Pattern: Comparing the AEOS and TES Data Sets.
Kahre, M. A., J. R. Murphy, N. J. Chanover, J. L. Africano, L. C. Roberts, and P. W. Kervin 2006, Icarus 179, 55-62.
Calibration of the Infrared Telescope Facility National Science Foundation Camera Jupiter Galileo Data Set.
Vincent, M. B., N. J. Chanover, R. F. Beebe, and L. Huber 2005, Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific 117, 1129-1143.
Vertical Structure Modeling of Saturn's Equatorial Region using High Spectral Resolution Imaging.
Temma, T., N. J. Chanover, D. A. Glenar, J. J. Hillman, D. M. Kuehn, A. A. Simon-Miller 2005, Icarus 175, 464-489.
Titan's Haze Structure in 1999 from Spatially Resolved Narrowband Imaging Surrounding the 0.94 Micron Methane Window.
Anderson, C. M., N. J. Chanover, C. P. McKay, P. Rannou, D. A. Glenar, and J. J. Hillman 2004, Geophys. Res. Lett. 31, L17S06, doi:10.1029/2004GL019857.
Probing Titan's Lower Atmosphere with Acousto-optic
Tuning.
Chanover, N.J., C.M. Anderson, C.P. McKay, P. Rannou, D.A. Glenar, J.J. Hillman, and W.E. Blass 2003, Icarus 163, 150-163.
