Rosaly M. C. Lopes (born January 8, 1957)[3] is a planetary geologist, volcanologist, an author of numerous scientific papers and several books, as well as a proponent of education. Her major research interests are in planetary and terrestrial surface processes with an emphasis on volcanology.[1][4][5][6]
Lopes was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and in her early life, lived near the neighborhood of Ipanema. Inspired in part by NASA's Poppy Northcutt,[3] she moved to London in England in 1975 to study astronomy at the University of London. She graduated with honours in astronomy in 1978. During her final semester, she took a planetary science course[7] with John Guest – and three weeks into the course, Mount Etna exploded. Lopes decided to change her field of study to volcanoes, on earth and in space.[3][7][8]
For her doctoral studies, she specialized in planetary geology and volcanology, completing her PhD in Planetary Science in 1986 with a thesis on comparing volcanic processes on Earth and Mars. During her PhD she travelled extensively to active volcanoes[7] and became a member of the UK's Volcanic Eruption Surveillance Team. Her first experience of an active volcano was of Mount Etna in Sicily in 1979.[3]
Lopes began her post doctorate career as the Curator of Modern Astronomy and Deputy Head of the Astronomy Section at the Old Royal Observatory in Greenwich, UK. In 1989 she performed hazard mapping at the Vesuvius Observatory in Naples, Italy as a Visiting Researcher.[3]
She joined the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate in 1989 and, after two years, became a member of the Galileo spacecraft project.[7] She worked on the Near Infra-red Mapping Spectrometer (NIMS) team planning and analyzing observations of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io from 1996 to 2001.[9] She discovered 71 volcanoes on Io that had never before been detected as active.[3][10]
In 2002, she became Investigation Scientist on the RADAR Team supporting the Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft.[7] She planned science observations of Saturn, its moons, and rings, and co-chaired the Cassini Satellites Orbiter Science Team from 2003 to 2010.[11] Her main interest on Cassini is in Saturn's largest moon Titan. The synthetic aperture radar data from the RADAR instrument show that Titan has volcanic features, but not like silicate volcanism on the Earth or Io. Titan's flows and other volcanic features are likely the result of ice volcanism (cryovolcanism).[10][12][13]
Her awards include the Latinas in Science medal from the Comisión Feminil Mexicana Nacional in 1991, the 1997 Woman of the Year in Science and Technology Award from the Miami-based GEM television, the 2005 Carl Sagan Medal from the American Astronomical Society, the 2006 Women at Work Award, the 2007 NASA Exceptional Service Medal,[11] and the 2014 Lowell Thomas award from The Explorers Club.[2] She is a member of the International Astronomical Union, the American Geophysical Society, and a Fellow of the AAAS, the Royal Geographical Society, and the Explorers Club.[11]
Lopes has authored over 100 research papers, articles, book chapters and encyclopaedia entries. She has been active in the media, featured on numerous documentaries for Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, History Channel, PBS, and on Nightline on American television, and has been interviewed by national and international media.[11]
She has written seven books, including Volcanic Worlds: Exploring the Solar System Volcanoes (Praxis-Springer, 2004), Io After Galileo: A New View of Jupiter's Volcanic Moon (Praxis-Springer, 2007), and Alien Volcanoes (Johns Hopkins Press, 2008). The Volcano Adventure Guide (Cambridge University Press, 2005) describes every volcano on the planet[7] and how to behave around them, information that is essential for anyone wishing to visit or photograph active volcanoes.[14]
You've got to know what you're doing around active volcanoes... I've come across people who are totally unprepared.
Lopes is a supporter of education, diversity, and outreach both nationally and internationally. She has given public lectures in several countries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas and was the co-organizer of the United Nations/European Space Agency/The Planetary Society workshops in 1992 and 1993. In 2005, she was awarded the Carl Sagan Medal by the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society,[15] in recognition of her efforts in public education, particularly among Hispanic groups and young women.[16] This work includes talks, interviews, articles, a book on planetary volcanism, and efforts to nurture and mentor young scientists. Her hobbies include scuba diving, hiking, visiting volcanoes, and collecting volcano art.
Lopes-Gautier, Rosaly (2000). "Volcanism on Io". In Haraldur Sigurdsson; Bruce Houghton; Hazel Rymer; John Stix; Steve McNutt (eds.). Encyclopedia of Volcanoes. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. pp.709–726. ISBN978-0-12-643140-7.
Lopes, Rosaly M.C.; Gregg, Tracy K.P. (2004). Volcanic Worlds: Exploring The Solar System's Volcanoes. Springer / Praxis. p.236. ISBN3-540-00431-9.
Lopes, Rosaly M. C.; Fagents, Sarah A; Gregg, Tracy K. P. (2013). Modeling Volcanic Processes: The Physics and Mathematics of Volcanism. Cambridge University Press. p.431. ISBN978-0-5218-9543-9.
Lopes, Rosaly; Carroll, Michael (2013). Alien Seas: Oceans in Space. Springer. p.200. ISBN978-1-4614-7472-2.
History Channel's "Prehistoric Megastorms" (2008);
"Heads Up" Science Series, Knowledge TV, Canada, episode on New Horizons (January 2008);
History Channel's "Search for E.T.", in "The Universe" series (August 2007);
PBS "Wired Science" interview on volcanoes (October 2007);
Discovery Channel's "Titan: Rendezvous with Saturn's Moon" (updated version, May 2007);
National Geographic Television's "Naked Science: Deadliest Planets" (December 2006);
History Channel's "Ask Mr. Know-It-All", pilot episode (as expert on volcanic dust), 2006;
History Channel's "Inside the Volcano" (December 2006);
Discovery Channel's "Rewind 2006" (science stories of 2006, December 2006);
National Geographic Television's "Hollywood Science: Forces of Nature" (April 2006);
Nightline's "Galileo" (September 2003);
Discovery Channel's "Planet Storm" (2001);
Discovery Channel's "95 Worlds and Counting" (2001)
Related Research Articles
Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and the second-largest in the Solar System, larger than any of the dwarf planets of the Solar System. It is the only moon known to have a dense atmosphere, and is the only known object in space other than Earth on which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found.
Cassini–Huygens, commonly called Cassini, was a space-research mission by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to send a space probe to study the planet Saturn and its system, including its rings and natural satellites. The Flagship-class robotic spacecraft comprised both NASA's Cassini space probe and ESA's Huygens lander, which landed on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Cassini was the fourth space probe to visit Saturn and the first to enter its orbit, where it stayed from 2004 to 2017. The two craft took their names from the astronomers Giovanni Cassini and Christiaan Huygens.
The rings of Saturn are the most extensive ring system of any planet in the Solar System. They consist of countless small particles, ranging in size from micrometers to meters, that orbit around Saturn. The ring particles are made almost entirely of water ice, with a trace component of rocky material. There is still no consensus as to their mechanism of formation. Although theoretical models indicated that the rings were likely to have formed early in the Solar System's history, newer data from Cassini suggested they formed relatively late.
Io, or Jupiter I, is the innermost and third-largest of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter. Slightly larger than Earth's moon, Io is the fourth-largest moon in the Solar System, has the highest density of any moon, the strongest surface gravity of any moon, and the lowest amount of water of any known astronomical object in the Solar System. It was discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei and was named after the mythological character Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of Zeus's lovers.
Volcanism on Io, a moon of Jupiter, is represented by the presence of volcanoes, volcanic pits and lava flows on the moon's surface. Its volcanic activity was discovered in 1979 by Voyager 1 imaging scientist Linda Morabito. Observations of Io by passing spacecraft and Earth-based astronomers have revealed more than 150 active volcanoes. Up to 400 such volcanoes are predicted to exist based on these observations. Io's volcanism makes the satellite one of only four known currently volcanically active worlds in the Solar System.
Amirani is an active volcano on Jupiter's moon Io, the inner-most of the Galilean Moons. It is located on Io's leading hemisphere at 24.46°N 114.68°W. The volcano is responsible for the largest active lava flow in the entire Solar System, with recent flows dwarfing those of even other volcanos on Io.
Masubi is an active volcano on Jupiter's moon Io. It is located on Io's leading hemisphere at 49.6°S 56.18°W within a bright terrain region named Tarsus Regio. A volcanic plume has been observed at Masubi by various spacecraft starting with Voyager 1 in 1979, though it has not been persistent like similar Ionian volcanoes Amirani and Prometheus. Masubi is also notable for having one of the largest active lava flows on Io, with an additional 240 km (150 mi) flow forming between 1999 and 2007.
Tupan Patera is an active volcano on Jupiter's moon Io. It is located on Io's anti-Jupiter hemisphere at 18.73°S 141.13°W. Tupan consists of a volcanic crater, known as a patera, 79 kilometers across and 900 meters deep. The volcano was first seen in low-resolution observations by the two Voyager spacecraft in 1979, but volcanic activity was not seen at this volcano until June 1996 during the Galileo spacecraft's first orbit. Following this first detection of near-infrared thermal emission and subsequent detections by Galileo during the next few orbits, this volcano was formally named Tupan Patera, after the thunder god of the Tupí-Guaraní indigenous peoples in Brazil, by the International Astronomical Union in 1997.
Tawhaki Patera is an active volcano on Jupiter's moon Io. It is located on Io's leading hemisphere at 3.32°N 76.18°W within the equatorial plains of western Media Regio. Tawhaki is an Ionian patera, a type of volcanic crater similar to a caldera, 49.8 kilometers (30.9 mi) wide and 550 meters (1,800 ft) deep.
The exploration of Io, Jupiter's innermost Galilean and third-largest moon, began with its discovery in 1610 and continues today with Earth-based observations and visits by spacecraft to the Jupiter system. Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was the first to record an observation of Io on January 8, 1610, though Simon Marius may have also observed Io at around the same time. During the 17th century, observations of Io and the other Galilean satellites helped with the measurement of longitude by map makers and surveyors, with validation of Kepler's Third Law of planetary motion, and with measurement of the speed of light. Based on ephemerides produced by astronomer Giovanni Cassini and others, Pierre-Simon Laplace created a mathematical theory to explain the resonant orbits of three of Jupiter's moons, Io, Europa, and Ganymede. This resonance was later found to have a profound effect on the geologies of these moons. Improved telescope technology in the late 19th and 20th centuries allowed astronomers to resolve large-scale surface features on Io as well as to estimate its diameter and mass.
Sotra Patera is a prominent depression on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. It was formerly known as Sotra Facula; the current name was approved on 19 December 2012. It is a possible cryovolcanic caldera 30 km (19 mi) across and 1.7 km (1.1 mi) deep, and is immediately to the east of the largest putative cryovolcanic mountain on Titan, the 1.45 km (0.90 mi) high Doom Mons. Sotra Patera is the deepest known pit on Titan.
Doom Mons is the name of a mountain range and its eponymous peak on Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. A putative cryovolcano, it is the largest mountain range on Titan by volume, and at 4,757 ft (1,450 m) one of the highest in the Solar System. It was discovered by the Cassini–Huygens probe in 2005 and officially named in 2012.
Elizabeth "Zibi" Turtle is a planetary scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.
Zamama is an active volcanic center on Jupiter's moon Io. This volcanic center erupted after the Voyager 1 flyby in 1979, making it one of the few planetary volcanoes known to have activated during this generation's lifetime. Further analysis and study by the Galileo spacecraft helped with the overall study of Io's volcanism. Galileo located it on Io at 21°N173°W. Zamama has a fissure-fed-type flow that is 150 km (93 mi) long with temperatures of 1,100 K, and the volcanic center site has explosive and effusive eruption characteristics. The flow appears to be emanating from the Promethean-type volcano.
PateraPAT-ər-ə is an irregular crater, or a complex crater with scalloped edges on a celestial body. Paterae can have any origin, although the majority of them were created by volcanism. The term comes from Latin, where it refers to a shallow bowl used in antique cultures.
Jani Radebaugh is an American planetary scientist and professor of geology at Brigham Young University who specializes in field studies of planets. Radebaugh's research focuses on Saturn's moon Titan, Jupiter's moon Io, the Earth's Moon, Mars and Pluto. Radebaugh is a Science Team member of the Dragonfly mission to Titan, the IVO Io mission proposal, and the Mars Median project. She was an Associate Team Member of the Cassini-Huygens RADAR instrument from 2008 to 2017, and was a graduate student scientist for Io for the Galileo mission. She does science outreach through her work as an expert contributor to the Science/Discovery program How the Universe Works and other television and radio programs. In December 2012, Radebaugh and her colleagues on the Cassini mission announced the discovery of Vid Flumina, a liquid methane river on Saturn's moon Titan over 320 km (200 mi) long and resembling the Nile river.
1 2 3 4 5 6 "Rosaly M. C. Lopes"(PDF). Jet Propulsion Laboratory , California Institute of Technology. Archived from the original(PDF) on March 2, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
↑ Lopes, Rosaly M. C.; Mitchell, K. L.; Stofan, E. R.; Lunine, Jonathan I.; Lorenz, R.; Paganelli, F.; Kirk, R. L.; Wood, C. A.; Wall, S. D.; Robshaw, L. E.; Fortes, A. D.; Neish, C. D.; Radebaugh, J.; Reffet, E.; Ostro, S. J.; Elachi, C.; Allison, M. D.; Anderson, Y.; Boehmer, R.; Boubin, G.; Callahan, P.; Encrenaz, P.; Flamini, E.; Francescetti, G.; Gim, Y.; Hamilton, G.; Hensley, S.; Janssen, M. A.; Johnson, W. T. K.; Kelleher, K.; Muhleman, D. O.; Ori, G.; Orosei, R.; Picardi, G.; Posa, F.; Roth, L. E.; Seu, R.; Shaffer, S.; Soderblom, L. A.; Stiles, B.; Vetrella, S.; West, R. D.; Wye, L.; Zebker, H. A. (February 2007). "Cryovolcanic features on Titan's surface as revealed by the Cassini Titan Radar Mapper". Icarus. 186 (2): 395–412. Bibcode:2007Icar..186..395L. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2006.09.006.
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"Women at JPL – Rosaly Lopes, Planetary Geologist", Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA
