Prof Tom Stallard

Tom Stallard is a planetary astronomer who utilises a combination of ground-based telescopes and instruments on spacecraft to understand the upper atmospheres and ionospheres of the giant planets. 

This region of the atmosphere is fascinating because, within its thin air, we see the coupling between two grand systems. At the Sun, the driving forces that dominate the upper atmosphere come from beneath. At Earth, it is the Solar Wind outside the planet that forces energy down into the top of the atmosphere. At the giant planets, because the ionosphere collides with the neutral atmosphere, but carries and is carried by currents from the surrounding magnetosphere, these two chaotic, massive systems are forced to interact. By measuring this interaction, we can reveal the complicated nature of giant planet atmospheres, but also better understand this complex interaction in places where the atmosphere or magnetosphere typically dominate.

Beyond this work measuring the upper atmospheres of Giant Planets, he also plays an important role in the development of such missions, from driving the scientific programme before launch, through ongoing mission planning, and the detailed calibration and analysis of this data.

More broadly, he is also interested in understanding the development of life within the universe, as well as exploring how intellegent life might develop in comparison to the Anthropocene on Earth. He also works to understand and improve PhD supervision within Physics.

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Detection of the infrared aurora at Uranus with Keck-NIRSPEC, Thomas, E., Melin, H., Stallard, T., Chowdhury, M., Wang, R., Knowles, K., Miller, S. 23 Oct 2023, In: Nature Astronomy
• UV-Dark Polar Ovals on Jupiter Trace the Depth of Magnetosphere-Atmosphere Connection, Tsubota, T., Wong, M., Stallard, T., Zhang, X., Simon, A. 22 Sep 2023
• Saturn's Weather‐Driven Aurorae Modulate Oscillations in the Magnetic Field and Radio Emissions, Chowdhury, M., Stallard, T., Baines, K., Provan, G., Melin, H., Hunt, G., Moore, L., O’Donoghue, J., Thomas, E., Wang, R., Miller, S., Badman, S. 16 Feb 2022, In: Geophysical Research Letters
• What the Upper Atmospheres of Giant Planets Reveal, O’Donoghue, J., Stallard, T. 14 Dec 2022, In: Remote Sensing
• Global upper-atmospheric heating on Jupiter by the polar aurorae, O'Donoghue, J., Moore, L., Bhakyapaibul, T., Melin, H., Stallard, T., Connerney, J., Tao, C. 5 Aug 2021, In: Nature
• Magnetic Reconnection Near the Planet as a Possible Driver of Jupiter’s Mysterious Polar Auroras, Masters, A., Dunn, W., Stallard, T., Manners, H., Stawarz, J. Aug 2021, In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
• Neptune odyssey: A flagship concept for the exploration of the neptune-triton system, Rymer, A., Runyon, K., Clyde, B., Núñez, J., Nikoukar, R., Soderlund, K., Sayanagi, K., Hofstadter, M., Quick, L., Stern, S., Becker, T., Hedman, M., Cohen, I., Crary, F., Fortney, J., Vertesi, J., Hansen, C., De Pater, I., Paty, C., Spilker, T., Stallard, T., Hospodarsky, G., Smith, H., Wakeford, H., Moran, S., Annex, A., Schenk, P., Ozimek, M., Arrieta, J., McNutt, R., Masters, A., Simon, A., Ensor, S., Apland, C., Bruzzi, J., Patthoff, D., Scott, C., Campo, C., Krupiarz, C., Cochrane, C., Gantz, C., Rodriguez, D., Gallagher, D., Hurley, D., Crowley, D., Abel, E., Provornikova, E., Turtle, E., Clark, G., Wilkes, J., Hunt, J., Roberts, J., Rehm, J., Murray, K., Wolfarth, L., Fletcher, L., Spilker, L., Martin, E., Parisi, M., Norkus, M., Izenberg, N., Stough, R., Vervack, R., Mandt, K., Stevenson, K., Kijewski, S., Cheng, W., Feldman, J., Allen, G., Prabhu, D., Dutta, S., Young, C., Williams, J. 1 Oct 2021, In: Planetary Science Journal
• The Importance of Exploring Neptune’s Aurora and Ionosphere, Stallard, T., Rymer, A., Cohen, I., Miller, S., Melin, H., O'Donoghue, J., Moore, L., Vervack, R., Thomas, E., Chowdhury, N., Mitchell, K., Crary, F., Clarke, J. 18 Mar 2021, In: Bulletin of the AAS
• Atmospheric implications of the lack of H 3 + detection at Neptune, Moore, L., Moses, J., Melin, H., Stallard, T., O’Donoghue, J. 25 Dec 2020, In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
• Thirty years of H3+ astronomy, Miller, S., Tennyson, J., Geballe, T., Stallard, T. 3 Aug 2020, In: Reviews of Modern Physics

Katie Knowles Traces of Magnetic Field in Jupiter's Equatorial Ionosphere Start Date: 01/10/2022

• PhD July 31 2001
• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy SFHEA
• UKCGE recognised research supervisor