Stephen Markham grew up in Las Cruces, but his journey to become an astronomer took him from Cornell University to Cal Tech and then to a postdoctoral position in France before returning home to accept a position at New Mexico State University as the Tombaugh Scholar.

“Steve Markham’s research on the interiors and deep atmospheres of the giant planets adds an exciting dimension to the previous and ongoing studies of atmospheric phenomena at the giant planet cloud tops that have been done in the NMSU astronomy department,” said Nancy Chanover, astronomy professor and principal investigator of NASA’s Planetary Data System Atmospheres Discipline Node, which archives all data from planetary spacecraft missions. “Steve’s involvement in the planning for a future mission to Uranus also demonstrates our continued interest in giant planet exploration.”

The Tombaugh Scholar is supported by an endowed fund created by famed astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, discoverer of Pluto, and his wife, Patricia. NMSU’s Department of Astronomy uses this fund to support postdoctoral researchers to work in the department for two or more years.

“I really looked up to Clyde Tombaugh,” Markham said. “I never got a chance to meet him, but I remember when I was in elementary school, I checked out his biography from the library at Highland Elementary and was amazed. It was amazing that such an important discovery, like the discovery of a planet, could have been made by someone who lived in my same town. It inspired me to believe that maybe someday I could try to do something similar. I think that definitely played a role in my career trajectory.”

Markham’s research is focused on a relatively new field, studying Jupiter quakes.

“So it sounds a little weird, but on Earth, seismology happens with earthquakes, but on the sun and with giant planets, you can have the whole planet oscillating and that tells you information about their interior structure,” Markham said.

“I'm interested in understanding Jupiter quakes, how these oscillations are excited, but also in interpreting those results,” he added. “I'm also interested in giant planet seismology in the context of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, which is especially interesting right now because NASA is planning a new flagship mission to Uranus. I've been involved in trying to plan and prepare for that mission.”

Markham is working on a variety of topics related to understanding giant planets in the solar system as well as exoplanets around the galaxy. These planets might host life very different from that on Earth.

“I’m really focused on planets with hydrogen atmospheres and understanding how convection and weather operate on planets like that,” Markham said. “There’s a possibility that you could have habitable planets with hydrogen atmospheres. But having a hydrogen atmosphere means that your climate is going to be very different from the climate we have on Earth.”

Markham is open-minded about possibilities for what extraterrestrial life might look like, emphasizing it’s likely to be very different from life on Earth.

“There’s a lot of emphasis in astronomy on trying to find places where we might find life that looks like ours, and I believe that it’s important to look for Earth 2.0, but it’s also important to look for other evidence because you never know in what context you might encounter something unexpected,” Markham said. “ It’s important to cast a wide net.”

As the Tombaugh Scholar, Markham has the freedom to research far-flung planets while and he his wife can enjoy raising their child in his home town close to family. As a member of NMSU’s Department of Astronomy, his efforts now may influence future generations of students.

“Growing up in Las Cruces, the night skies are so beautiful,” Markham said. “Every time I was outside at night, I was always just staring up at the moon and the stars and wondering about things. NMSU had a lot of outreach in the community. When I was a kid, people from the astronomy department offered us a chance to observe with telescopes. I think having such a big astronomy presence here in town definitely influenced my career.”

 The full article can be seen at https://newsroom.nmsu.edu/news/nmsu-tombaugh-scholar-s-research-focuses-on-giant-planets/s/4e99340d-88b9-4b01-9071-f27bd34395bc