Paul Strycker Research Assistant Entered: 2005 Office: 107 Astronomy Phone: (575)646-4834 Fax: (575)646-1602   E-mail: strycker (append "@nmsu.edu")
B.S. University of Notre Dame, 2005

Research

I am currently working with my advisor, Nancy Chanover, on Jovian atmospheric structure and chromophores (coloring agents).

Despite many decades of ground-based, space-based, and in situ observations of Jupiter's atmosphere, the chemical agent(s) responsible for the varying colors seen in visible images of Jupiter remain unidentified. Spatially resolved high spectral resolution observations are needed to isolate different colored regions on the planet in order to identify these chromophores.

The spatial and vertical distributions of clouds, aerosols, ammonia mixing ratios, and chromophores can be studied simultaneously with hyperspectral imaging in the visible and near-IR. The observations and analyses described below lay some of the ground work for my dissertation project.

Observations

Observatories and Telescopes
               Apache Point Observatory (APO) 3.5-meter telescope
               Maui Space Surveillance System (MSSS) Advanced Electro Optical System (AEOS) 3.67-meter telescope

Instruments
               Astrophysical Research Consortium Echelle Spectrograph (ARCES) at APO
               NMSU Acousto-optic Imaging Camera (NAIC)

Campaigns
               April 2006 -- ARCES spectra of Jupiter (2 half-nights)
               July 2006 -- ARCES spectra of Jupiter (2 half-nights; Michael Sussman observing)
               February 2007 -- ARCES spectra of Jupiter and Saturn (5 half-nights; Michael Sussman observing)
               February 2007 -- AEOS NAIC spectral image cubes of Jupiter and Saturn (4 full nights)
               June 2007 -- APO NAIC spectral image cubes of Jupiter (4 half-nights)
               July 2007 -- APO NAIC spectral image cubes of Jupiter (2 half-nights)
               September 2009 -- APO NAIC spectral image cubes of Jupiter (5 half-nights)

               October 2009 -- APO NAIC spectral image cubes of Jupiter (2 half-nights)

Meetings

October 2009: Division for Planetary Sciences meeting, Jovian Chromophore Characteristics from Multispectral HST Images
Strycker, P. D.; Chanover, N. J.; Simon-Miller, A. A.; Banfield, D.; Gierasch, P. J.
      poster -- PDF

October 2008: Division for Planetary Sciences meeting, Jovian Ammonia Cloud Identification and Color Analyses from Hyperspectral Imaging
Strycker, P. D.; Chanover, N. J.; Voelz, D. G.; Simon-Miller, A. A.
      poster -- PDF

November 2007: Workshop on Planetary Atmospheres, Hyperspectral Imaging of Jupiter and Saturn
Strycker, P. D.; Chanover, N. J.; Voelz, D. G.; Simon-Miller, A. A.
      abstract -- PDF -- PS
      poster -- PDF -- PS -- PPT

October 2006: Division for Planetary Sciences meeting, A Spectroscopic Search for Jupiter's Chromophores
Strycker, P. D.; Chanover, N. J.; Sussman, M.; Simon-Miller, A. A.
      poster -- PDF

Page last updated on 15 October 2009