This page is somewhat out of date, though still provides an overview of major research areas. Purusing the current web sites of individuals would provide more accurate information until this page is updated. (Oct. 2010)

Topics of research in planetary sciences:

Planet Formation and Circumstellar Disks

Research on stellar and planetary systems includes studies of planet formation by Scott Kenyon, David Wilner, and Myron Lecar.

Planetary Geology and Geophysics

Sarah Stewart-Mukhopadhyay conducts laboratory experiments and simulations of impact cratering and collisions in the solar system, with current interest in formation of fluidized ejecta blankets on Mars.

Jeremy Bloxham's research includes simulations of planetary magnetic fields.

Sujoy Mukhopadhyay studies the recurrence interval of comet showers in the geologic record.

Meteoritics

Isotopic and petrological studies of meteorites by Stein Jacobson and the geochemistry groups in EPS and CfA have been used to infer the conditions in the primordial solar nebula and the accretion and differentiation histories of planets and asteroids.

Sarah Stewart-Mukhopadhyay is investigating the effects of shock processing on the magnetization and composition of meteorites.

Small Bodies: Asteroids, Comets, Satellites

Several researchers are working on the dynamics, formation, and physical properties of the cometesimals in the Kuiper Belt, the icy disk of small bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune.

CfA hosts the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union.

Matt Holman's research includes observational searches for irregular moons in the outer solar system.

Planetary Atmospheres

Mark Gurwell uses millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths to study the atmospheres of Earth, planets, their satellites, and comets.

Ken Jucks and Wes Traub study the earth's atmosphere to identify spectral biomarkers which may be detected on extrasolar planets with the proposed Terrestrial Planet Finder mission.

Solar System Dynamics

Matt Holman, Mike Lecar, Fred Franklin, Brian Marsden, and Marc Kuchner study planetary dynamics, including resonances, the effects of planets on dusty disks, and numerical integration methods.

Astrobiology

Andy Knoll is the Principal Investigator of the Harvard Astrobiology Center which focuses on the planetary context of biological evolution, including the effects of environmental change and mass extinction events. The Harvard Center is one of 15 Lead Teams forming the NASA Astrobiology Institute. (What is Astrobiology?) The 4th year report is available online.

Sujoy Mukhopadhyay uses the rare isotope ³He as a geochemical tracer for interplanetary dust (IDP) in sediments. Periods of constant dust flux can be used as a high-resolution chronometer to study the time scales for biological recovery following mass extinction events.

Extrasolar planetary systems

Extra-solar planets have been discovered with the Advanced Fiber-Optic Echelle (AFOE). Bob Noyes, Sylvain Korzennik, and Peter Nisenson are on the AFOE Team.

Dimitar Sasselov studies the nature of extra-solar giant planets.

David Charbonneau is involved in several projects related to the search of extra-solar planets and brown dwarfs.