
Planetary Science Research at UW-Eau Claire

Dr. Paul Thomas currently carries out research projects focused on the study
of our solar system. Recent projects include
- Thermal modeling of the icy crust of Jupiter's satellite Europa,
particularly the possibility of "melt-through" zones which might persist for
million year periods. This research, done in collaboration with undergraduate
student Leon Buck and Dr. Marc Goulet and Dr. Alex Smith of UW-Eau Claire's
Mathematics Department, was published in Geophysical Review Letters in
2002. Download pdf article.
- Modeling of high speed collisions in the solar system using Smoothed
Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) models. Past applications of this technique have
included the introduction of organic molecules to the primordial Earth by
comet impact, the formation of the giant basins on the Moon.
Download a recent pdf article
(NCUR 2006).
- Modeling of hypersonic passage of asteroids and comets through the
atmosphere. This work has particularly focused on modeling the 1908
Tunguska
explosion.
Paul
J. Thomas
Department of Physics and Astronomy
(715) 836-3615
Updated:
12/12/2006 02:34:37 PM