Astrophysics and Astronomy Commons^™

A Comparison Of Relict And Active Terrestrial Patterned Ground As An Analog For Mars, John Paul Knightly Jr.

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Patterned ground is a ubiquitous landform in periglacial regions of Earth and is also present across the mid to high latitudes of Mars. The association of terrestrial patterned ground to the presence of subsurface water ice in the form of permafrost that develops a seasonal ‘wet’ active layer during the summer thaw prompted further investigation of patterned ground on Mars. The Phoenix spacecraft was sent to the surface of the north polar plains of Mars to investigate an area of patterned ground where water ice was predicted to occur. The confirmation of subsurface water ice at the Phoenix landing site …

Correlations Between The Rotations And Magnetospheres Of The Terrestrial Planets And The Sun's Formation In Our Solar System, Fred J. Cadieu

Publications and Research

Correlations between the rotations of the terrestrial planets in our solar system and the magnetic field of the Sun have been previously noted. These correlations account for the opposite rotation of Venus as a result of the magnetic field of the Sun being dragged across the conducting core of Venus. Currently the Sun’s magnetic field is not sufficiently strong to account for the proposed correlations. But recently meteorite paleomagnetism measurements have indicated that during the Sun’s formation the magnetic field of the Sun was of sufficient strength to have resulted in the observed correlations. As a part of these correlations …

Mms Observations Of The Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability And Associated Ion Scale Waves, Rachel C. Rice

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The detailed mechanisms coupling the solar wind to Earth's magnetosphere are not yet fully understood. Solar wind plasma is heated non-adiabatically as it penetrates the magnetosphere, and this process must span scale sizes. Reconnection alone is not able to account for the observed heating; other mechanisms must be at work. One potential process is the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI). The KHI is a convective instability which operates at the fluid scale in plasmas, but is capable of driving secondary process at smaller scales. Previous work has shown evidence of magnetic reconnection, various ion scale wave modes, mode conversion, and turbulence associated …

The World As We Know It: Maps And Atlases From Special Collections, Archives And Special Collections, Luke Meagher

Library Exhibits

Selections of maps and atlases from Sandor Teszler Library’s Special Collections are presented in this exhibit to show how, over time, cartographers have represented the world as we know it.

Surface Morphologies In A Mars-Analog Ca-Sulfate Salar, High Andes, Northern Chile, Nancy W. Hinman, Michael H. Hofmann, Kimberly Warren-Rhodes, Michael S. Phillips, Nora Noffke, Nathalie A. Cabrol, Guillermo Chong Diaz, Cecilia Demergasso, Cinthya Tebes-Cayo, Oscar Cabestro, Janice L. Bishop, Virginia C. Gulick, David Summers, Pablo Sobron, Michael Mcinenly, Jeffrey Moersch, Constanza Rodriguez, Philippe Sarazzin, Kevin L. Rhodes, Camila Javiera Riffo Contreras, David Wettergreen, Victor Parro

OES Faculty Publications

Salar de Pajonales, a Ca-sulfate salt flat in the Chilean High Andes, showcases the type of polyextreme environment recognized as one of the best terrestrial analogs for early Mars because of its aridity, high solar irradiance, salinity, and oxidation. The surface of the salar represents a natural climate-transition experiment where contemporary lagoons transition into infrequently inundated areas, salt crusts, and lastly dry exposed paleoterraces. These surface features represent different evolutionary stages in the transition from previously wetter climatic conditions to much drier conditions today. These same stages closely mirror the climate transition on Mars from a wetter early Noachian to …

Cuny York College–Hosted Nasa Stem Outreach Program Graduates Over 30,000 Students – The Legacy Continues Amidst The Covid-19 Pandemic, Nazrul I. Khandaker

Publications and Research

The NASA MUREP (Minority University Research and Education Project) and SEMAA (Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy) at York College CUNY (City University of New York), borough of Queens, New York City, recently earned a distinction by graduating over 30,000 underrepresented minority students since 1999 with the culmination of the fall 2021 session! African American students are leading the graduates, followed by Hispanic and Asian students being almost equal in proportion. The primary objective of both MAA (MUREP Aerospace Academy) and SEMAA is getting underrepresented minority students exposure to innovative STEM content and prepare many of them to enter higher …

Developing A Practice In Remote Sensing For Next-Generation Human Rights Researchers, Theresa Harris, Jonathan Drake, Umesh K. Haritashya, Wumi Asubiaro Dada, Fredy Cumes

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Remote sensing is increasingly recognized as an important tool for documenting human rights abuses. When used alongside interviews, case studies, surveys, forensic science, and other well-established research methods in human rights and humanitarian practice, remotely sensed data can effectively geolocate and establish chronologies for mass graves, forced displacement, destruction of cultural heritage sites, and other violations. But as a highly technical field of science that relies on ever-changing technologies, remote sensing and geospatial analysis are not readily accessible for human rights and humanitarian practitioners. The community of practice grew out of innovative work by practitioners at NGOs and specialized inter-governmental …

Analysis Of Titan's Fluvial Features Using Numerical Modeling, Jeshurun Horton

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

River channels have been observed near the Huygens probe landing site on the surface of Titan, along with evidence of rounded water ice boulders transported through fluid flow. Evidence near the landing site suggests active flow of liquid methane, which has motivated the study of the effects of sediment load and channel sizes on Titan’s fluvial features. A numerical model is used to determine the viscosity, flow velocity, and critical boulder transport diameter based on channel size, slope, and a range of sediment concentrations. This model achieves two ends: first, observed boulder diameters are used to determine the ideal channel …

Addressing The Learning Loss During The Covid-19 Pandemic Through The Adaptation Of Virtual Platforms, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Anika Nawar Mayeesha, Violeta Escandon Correa, Toralv Munro, Andrew Singh, Matthew Khargie, Ality Aghedo, Jasmin Budhan, Krishna Mahabir, Belal A. Sayeed

Publications and Research

The York College-hosted NASA MAA (MUREP AEROSPACE ACADEMY) has always played a pivotal role in minimizing the learning loss during the summer months, which was heightened during the pandemic. Support from AT&T, Con Edison and NASA enabled the MAA program at York College to offer a virtual STEM education with an earth science concentration to 1000 plus underserved K1-12 students from the community last summer, including 160 high school students. Two factors made this endeavor fruitful: allowing additional time to engage in STEM lessons and increasing self-motivation to successfully accomplish assigned tasks. Students built partnerships and resolved technical issues with …

Multi-Faceted Geoscience Research Using Open Access Resources: The Successful Participation Of K9-16 Students, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Noshin Sharmili, Omadevi Singh, Gurwinder Sahota, Sol De Leon, Matthew Khargie, Ali Zarine, Krishna Mahabir, Adacia Teemal, Mildred M. Selby

Publications and Research

Students interested in geosciences, for the most part, missed out their traditional field- based research activities due to strict social distancing, travel restrictions and/or lacking financial support. An absence of physical laboratory opportunities forced students to choose topics deemed doable through online research. Available data from online sources on extreme weather related case studies, flooding, droughts, groundwater depletion in urban and suburban areas, coastal erosion rate, sealevel rise, landslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and atmospheric pollution became quite handy and lucrative. Readily available pertinent data sources enabled K9-16 students to conduct summer research at “stay home” situations. Selective peer mentoring was …

Initial Acoustoelastic Measurements In Olivine: Investigating The Effect Of Stress On P- And S-Wave Velocities, Taryn K. Traylor, Pamela C. Burnley, M. L. Whitaker

Geoscience Faculty Research

It is well known that elasticity is a key physical property in the determination of the structure and composition of the Earth and provides critical information for the interpretation of seismic data. This study investigates the stress-induced variation in elastic wave velocities, known as the acoustoelastic effect, in San Carlos olivine. A recently developed experimental ultrasonic acoustic system, the Directly Integrated Acoustic System Combined with Pressure Experiments (DIASCoPE), was used with the D-DIA multi-anvil apparatus to transmit ultrasonic sound waves and collect the reflections. We use the DIASCoPE to obtain longitudinal (P) and shear (S) elastic wave velocities from San …

The Morphology And Evolution Of Transverse Aeolian Ridges On Mars, Timothy Paul Nagle-Mcnaughton

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Transverse aeolian ridges (TARs) are enigmatic and largely relict bedforms on the surface of Mars. TARs are sparsely distributed but common on Mars, but their history, preservation, and past role in the sediment cycle is not well understood. First described in 2003, and detailed extensively in 2008, our study of TARs has been narrowly focused in the last decade, with more and more research noting their presence, but little investigation of the features themselves. Recent work has mostly focused on identifying Terran analogues for TARs, but TARs remain largely a unique Martian feature. In this manuscript, I clarify and refine …

Strong Inclination Pacing Of Climate In Late Triassic Low Latitudes Revealed By The Earth-Saturn Tilt Cycle, Miranda Margulis-Ohnuma, Jessica Whiteside, Paul Olsen

The Yale Undergraduate Research Journal

Gravitational interactions among masses in the solar system are recorded in Earth’s paleoclimate history because variations in the geometry of Earth’s orbit and axial orientation modulate insolation. However, astronomical models are unreliable before ~50 Ma due to the chaotic nature of the solar system and therefore must be constrained using geological observations. Here, we use environmental proxies from paleo-tropical Late Triassic lake deposits of the Newark Rift Basin to identify and tune to previously undescribed strong variations in orbital inclination. Tuning to the 173 kyr Earth-Saturn inclination cycle, theoretically stable due to the high mass of Saturn, reveals both other …

Spatiotemporal Trends And Variability In The Centroid Of The Northern Hemisphere's Circumpolar Vortex, Nazla Bushra, Robert V. Rohli

Faculty Publications

Recent previous research has established the "sharpest gradient" approach to defining the circumpolar vortex and has identified correlations of the area and circularity of the Northern Hemisphere's circumpolar vortex (NHCPV) to important atmospheric-oceanic teleconnections. However, because geographical shifts in the NHCPV, independent of area or circularity changes, could affect surface environmental conditions, this research addresses the question of the extent to which the NHCPV centroid undergoes such shifts, both intra- and inter-annually. Results show that during the 1979-2017 period, the centroid has moved less on a daily basis in more recent years, perhaps indicative of a stabilization in circulation, with …

An Experimental Study Of Evaporites On Titan: Implications For Lake Composition And Future Missions, Ellen Czaplinski

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Titan is the only other planetary body in the solar system with liquid on the surface. With a surface temperature and pressure of 89 – 94 K and 1.5 bar (N2), respectively, Titan’s lakes are comprised of liquid hydrocarbons, predominantly methane and ethane. Over time, Titan’s lakes may evaporate, leaving behind residual deposits (evaporites). The evaporation processes and composition of the evaporites is poorly understood. I address these outstanding questions by experimentally investigating the physical and spectral properties of evaporites at Titan surface conditions using an experimental chamber.

Chapter 1 addresses the formation of ethylene evaporites. Ethylene evaporites form more …

A Consistent Model Of Terrestrial Planet Magnetospheres And Rotations In Our Solar System, Fred J. Cadieu

Publications and Research

The Sun comprises 99.9% of the solar system mass so it is expected that Sun terrestrial planet interactions can influence the motion as well as the rotation of the terrestrial planets.Gravity affects the planet orbital motions while the changing magnetic fields of the Sun can influence the planet rotations. Planets that manifest a magnetic field dominate any weaker magnetic fields from the Sun, but the rotation of terrestrial planets without a magnetic field interacts with the changing Sun’s field dependent on the electrical conductivity of the core region. It is determined that the average planet density becomes a useful quantity …

Late Amazonian Wind Regimes And Landscape Evolution In Northern Meridiani Planum, Mars, Thomas Stritch

Geology: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Aeolian process have dominated the lower latitudes of Mars for billions of years. Aeolian landforms can act as records of current and past climates and landscape evolution processes. The etched deposits of Meridiani Planum, a vast suite of layered bedrock extending from southwest Arabia Terra to Schiaparelli crater, have long been noted to have been eroded by aeolian processes. However, little detailed work on the aeolian landforms of Meridiani Planum beyond the Opportunity rover landing site has been done. In this study, I examine wind streaks, aeolian bedforms (including dunes and large ripples), and yardangs in a valley about 370 …

The Role Of Hydrated Minerals And Space Weathering Products In The Bluing Of Carbonaceous Asteroids, David Trang, Michelle S. Thompson, Bet E. Clark, Hannah H. Kaplan, Xiao-Duan Zou, Jian-Yang Li, Salvatore M. Ferrone, Victoria E. Hamilton, Amy A. Simon, Dennis C. Reuter, Lindsay P. Keller, M. Antonietta Barucci, Humberto Campins, Cateline Lantz, Daniella N. Dellagiustina, Ronald-Louis Ballouz, Erica R. Jawin, Harold Connolly Jr., Kevin J. Walsh, Dante Lauretta

School of Earth & Environment Departmental Research

The surfaces of airless bodies such as lunar and S-type asteroids typically become spectrally redder in visible to near-infrared reflectance with longer exposures to space weathering. However, some carbonaceous asteroids instead become spectrally bluer. Space weathering experiments on carbonaceous meteorites have provided some clues as to the space weathering products that could produce spectral bluing. We applied these experimental results to our Hapke radiative transfer model, with which we modeled spectral data from the OSIRIS-REx mission in order to determine whether these space weathering products—specifically, nanophase and microphase metallic iron, troilite, and magnetite—could explain the globally blue spectrum of the …

Implications Of An Improved Water Equation Of State For Water-Rich Planets, Chenling Huang, David R. Rice, Zachary M. Grande, Dean Smith, John H. Boisvert, Oliver Tschauner, Ashkan Salamat, Jason Steffen

Geoscience Faculty Research

Water (H2O), in all forms, is an important constituent in planetary bodies, controlling habitability and influencing geological activity. Under conditions found in the interior of many planets, as the pressure increases, the H-bonds in water gradually weaken and are replaced by ionic bonds. Recent experimental measurements of the water equation of state (EOS) showed both a new phase of H-bonded water ice, ice-VIIt, and a relatively low transition pressure just above 30 GPa to ionic bonded ice-X, which has a bulk modulus 2.5 times larger. The higher bulk modulus of ice-X produces larger planets for a given mass, thereby either …

Concentrated Lunar Resources: Imminent Implications For Governance And Justice, Martin Elvis, Alanna Krolikowski, Tony Milligan

History and Political Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Numerous missions planned for the next decade are likely to target a handful of small sites of interest on the Moon's surface, creating risks of crowding and interference at these locations. The Moon presents finite and scarce areas with rare topography or concentrations of resources of special value. Locations of interest to science, notably for astronomy, include the Peaks of Eternal Light, the coldest of the cold traps and smooth areas on the far side. Regions richest in physical resources could also be uniquely suited to settlement and commerce. Such sites of interest are both few and small. Typically, there …

Spectral Properties Of Lunar Impact Melt Deposits From Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) Data, Catherine Neish, Kevin Cannon, Livio Tornabene, Roberta Flemming, Michael Zanetti, Eric Pilles

Earth Sciences Publications

Lunar impact melt deposits have unusual surface properties, unlike any measured terrestrial lava flow. Radar observations suggest that they are incredibly rough at decimeter scales, but they appear smooth in high-resolution, meter-scale optical images. The cause of their unusual surface roughness is unknown. In this work, we investigate the properties of impact melt deposits from seven lunar craters, ranging in size from 7.5 to 96 km in diameter, in an effort to understand the cause of their unique surface texture. We use data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s (LRO) Mini-RF instrument to characterize the small-scale roughness of the deposits, data …

Microbially Induced Sedimentary Structures In Clastic Deposits: Implication For The Prospection For Fossil Life On Mars, Nora Noffke

OES Faculty Publications

Abundant and well-preserved fossil microbenthos occurs in siliciclastic deposits of all Earth ages, from the early Archean to today. Studies in modern settings show how microbenthos responds to sediment dynamics by baffling and trapping, binding, biostabilization, and growth. Results of this microbial-sediment interaction are microbially induced sedimentary structures (MISS). Successful prospection for rich MISS occurrences in the terrestrial lithological record requires unraveling genesis and taphonomy of MISS, both of which are defined only by a narrow range of specific conditions. These conditions have to coincide with high detectability which is a function of outcrop quality, bedding character, and rock type. …

Meteoritic Evidence For A Ceres-Sized Water-Rich Carbonaceous Chondrite Parent Asteroid, V E. Hamilton, C A. Goodrich, A H. Treiman, Harold Connolly Jr., M E. Zolensky, M H. Shaddad

School of Earth & Environment Departmental Research

Carbonaceous chondrite meteorites record the earliest stages of Solar System geo-logical activities and provide insight into their parent bodies' histories. Some carbonaceous chondrites are volumetrically dominated by hydrated minerals, providing evidence for low temperature and pressure aqueous alteration1. Others are dominated by anhydrous minerals and textures that indicate high temperature metamorphism in the absence of aqueous fluids1. Evidence of hydrous metamorphism at intermediate pressures and temperatures in carbonaceous chondrite parent bodies has been virtually absent. Here we show that an ungrouped, aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrite fragment (numbered 202) from the Almahata Sitta (AhS) meteorite contains an assemblage of minerals, including …

Mars 2020: A Step Closer To The Red Planet, Kevin Ng, Matthew Khargie, Omadevi Singh, Sashi Singh, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Rajendra Persaud

Publications and Research

This research paper primarily focuses on the NASA Mars 2020 mission, but will also revisit and discuss past rover missions. As the Mars 2020 mission is ongoing, some information will be updated accordingly. For decades, humans have dreamed of the colonization of Mars for many reasons, such as some similarities shared by Earth and Mars or the close proximity to our planet. In fact, dozens of films, books, and articles have been written, especially in the past 2 decades, about the possibility. As technology advances, we develop newer equipment to hopefully make this possibility into a reality. Of course, placing …

Human Health And Wellness In Space: A Review Of Common Effects, Current Research, And Methods Of Prevention, Sonnet Xu, Rajendra Persaud, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Jasmin Budhan

Publications and Research

Space poses a threat to space crew wellness, where microgravity, isolation, radiation, and other conditions exert strain on human health. This study explores the changes to the human body in space and how it contributes to major threats to health during spaceflights. The effects of the hostile environment of outer space are all examined here, along with resultant changes to behavior, physiology, and the difficulty of remote diagnosis for health treatment in space. This review also considers the implications to the human cartilage, brain, and eyes along with the various other hazards and physiological alterations.

Human health in space is …

Microgravity And Its Bearing With Space Flight-Related Research, Farhan Tanvir, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Rajendra Persaud, Jeff Guan

Publications and Research

This study investigates the unique properties and applications of microgravity in the context of spaceflight research. Understanding and harnessing the behaviors of a microgravity environment opens up the doors to long-term space travel and consequently, future missions to other planets within our solar system. More specifically, simulating and conducting experiments in microgravity environments helps us explore its effects on the various necessary tasks and behaviors that are carried out during spaceflight. The most immediate and pronounced effects of microgravity are on human physiology. In particular, studies have shown that prolonged exposure to microgravity can result in a 20% decrease in …

An Analysis Of Astrophotography: How Accurate Is The Photography Of Space?, Denice Morales, Rajendra Persaud, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Omadevi Sing, Matthew Khargie

Publications and Research

The current research goal is to talk about astrophotography that is designed to interact with non-STEM majors in the natural sciences, and to teach future or beginner astronomers and citizen scientists. The course depends on constructivist tutorial strategies to instruct records, cut price and photo processing strategies, and at the same time address mathematical anxiety. The goal of the pathways is to create an awesome ride in the natural sciences, which has been traditionally linked to imparting pertinent education to a cohort of citizen scientists and novice astronomers - businesses which historically have analyzed an amazing volume of files (both …

The Nasa Murep Aerospace Academy Program (Maa): Playing A Pivotal Role In Bridging The Knowledge-Gap During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Omadevi Singh, Sol De Leon, Violeta Escandon, Tajriyan Chowdhury, Anthony Ramnarain, Sahaj Khan, Najina Tojiboeva, Raj Datta, Brian Sukhnandan, Farshad Hosseinie, Fiorella Guevara

Publications and Research

The COVID-19 pandemic forced all City University of New York CUNY campuses, including York College, to offer virtual learning opportunities to students. NASA MAA, being an outreach STEM program, also fell under the same category and swiftly came-up with a plan to move into DLM. Initial surveys indicated the basic household technology needed to attend virtual sessions and showed complicated situations where parents had multiple children attending the summer 2020 session. To ensure greater participation, computers, iPads, Chromebooks, and cell phones were used. Common platforms. like WebEx and Zoom, were routinely used by our MAA teachers to disseminate online content …

Global Patterns Of Recent Mass Movement On Asteroid (101955) Bennu, E. R. Jawin, K. J. Walsh, O. S. Barnouin, T. J. Mccoy, R.-L. Ballouz, D. N. Dellagiustina, Harold Connolly Jr.

School of Earth & Environment Departmental Research

The exploration of near‐Earth asteroids has revealed dynamic surfaces characterized by mobile, unconsolidated material that responds to local geophysical gradients, resulting in distinct morphologies and boulder distributions. The OSIRIS‐REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security‐Regolith Explorer) mission confirmed that asteroid (101955) Bennu is a rubble pile with an unconsolidated surface dominated by boulders. In this work, we documented morphologies indicative of mass movement on Bennu and assessed the relationship to slope and other geologic features on the surface. We found globally distributed morphologic evidence of mass movement on Bennu up to ~70° latitude and on spatial scales ranging from …

Meteoroid Impacts As A Source Of Bennu's Particle Ejection Events, W. F. Bottke, A. V. Moorhead, Harold Connolly Jr., C. W. Hergenrother, J. L. Molaro, P. Michel

School of Earth & Environment Departmental Research

Asteroid (101955) Bennu, a near‐Earth object with a primitive carbonaceous chondrite‐like composition, was observed by the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security‐Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS‐REx) spacecraft to undergo multiple particle ejection events near perihelion between December 2018 and February 2019. The three largest events observed during this period, which all occurred 3.5 to 6 hr after local noon, placed numerous particles <10 cm on temporary orbits around Bennu. Here we examine whether these events could have been produced by sporadic meteoroid impacts using the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Meteoroid Engineering Model 3.0. Most projectiles that impact Bennu come from nearly isotropic or Jupiter‐family comets and have evolved toward the Sun by Poynting‐Robertson drag. We find that 7,000‐J impacts on Bennu occur with a biweekly cadence near perihelion, with a preference to strike in the late afternoon (~6 pm local time). This timing matches observations. Crater scaling laws also indicate that these impact energies can reproduce the sizes and masses of the largest observed particles, provided the surface has the cohesive properties of weak, porous materials. Bennu's ejection events could be caused by the same kinds of meteoroid impacts that created the Moon's asymmetric debris cloud observed by the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE). Our findings also suggest that fewer ejection events should take place as Bennu moves further away from the Sun, a result that can be tested with future observations.