Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy Program

This NASA Postdoctoral Program opportunity encompasses atmospheric dynamics or structure research using imaging data from the Hubble Space Telescope Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) program. The dataset consists of hundreds of yearly images of Uranus since 2014, Jupiter and Neptune since 2015, and Saturn since 2018, with wavelengths spanning the near UV to methane bands in the near IR. The dataset was designed to support investigations focused on short and long-term evolution of cloud/aerosol properties, dynamical flows, and transient phenomena. Studies of specific atmospheric features, such as Jupiter's Great Red Spot, and making use of HST's high spatial resolution in the near-UV and visible range are also appropriate. Collaboration will involve interaction with all three members of the OPAL team: Amy Simon (PI, NASA GSFC), Glenn Orton (JPL), and Mike Wong (UC Berkeley). The NASA Postdoctoral Program offers unique research opportunities to highly-talented scientists to engage in ongoing NASA research projects at a NASA Center, NASA Headquarters, or at a NASA-affiliated research institute. These one- to three-year fellowships are competitive and are designed to advance NASA's missions in space science, Earth science, aeronautics, space operations, exploration systems, and astrobiology.