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Prof. Nick Achilleos Inaugural Lecture

25 April 2018, 3:00 pm–4:00 pm

Nick Achilleos

Event Information

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Location

Harrie Massey LT, UCL

Professor Nick Achilleos will be giving his inaugural lecture entitled 'Giant Planets and their Space Environments' on Wednesday 25 April at 3pm, in the Harrie Massey Lecture Theatre. You are warmly invited to attend. 

Abstract 

The gas giant planets Saturn and Jupiter have been the subject of several space missions in the 20th and 21st centuries. The Cassini mission, in particular, provided us with more than 13 years of data from a dedicated orbiter at a world other than our own. The magnetic field and particle datasets from this spacecraft have allowed us to explore the coupling between Saturn's atmosphere and magnetosphere in unprecedented detail. Along the way, the magnetometer also paved the way for one of the most important discoveries at Saturn - the water geysers operating on Saturn's small icy moon, Enceladus - the 'little engine' that drives the planet's enormous magnetosphere. In this talk, we will look at contributions made by the UCL Astrophysics (Planetary Plasmas) group to magnetospheric science at Saturn, and also look towards the future mission JUICE (JUpiter ICy moon Explorer), with which we are also involved. 

Bio

Prof. Achilleos works with the Planetary Plasmas Group / Atmospheric Physics Laboratory within UCL's Department of Physics and Astronomy. We are also part of the UCL Centre for Planetary Sciences. My current research interests broadly cover the magnetospheres and ionospheres of giant planets (Jupiter and Saturn) and how these systems are coupled together. Previously, I have been a mission planner for the team who manage the magnetometer instrument onboard the Cassini spacecraft, currently orbiting the planet Saturn - I am a science co-investigator at present for the Cassini magnetometer team, as well as the JMAG magnetometer team for the JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) mission, currently being developed and due for launch in 2022.