How we got from dust and gas to life on Earth has been a 5 billion year product development cycle, with Jupiter as the master decoder. Without this monster planet shaping our solar system, there would be no us. It’s why NASA’s Juno mission, launched in 2011 to explore the great planet, has so much to tell us about our origins. Mission scientist Jonathan Nichols shines wonder and light on this remarkable craft as it skims Jupiter’s ferocious defenses with the daring do of a superhero. The returning images and data have been revelatory, challenging scientific assumptions; and the work is not done yet. Dr Jonathan Nichols graduated with a PhD from the University of Leicester in 2004, with a theoretical thesis regarding the nature of Jupiter’s auroras (northern lights). He has since held research associate posts at the University of Leicester and Boston University, Massachusetts, working with Hubble Space Telescope observations of Jupiter’s and Saturn’s auroras.
He was awarded a prestigious five-year Science and Technology Facilities Council Advanced Fellowship in 2011, and was appointed to a lectureship in 2013.
Dr Nichols’ research continues to work with Hubble Space Telescope data, having been awarded time to observe Jupiter, Saturn, Ganymede, and exoplanet WASP-12b, and is presently also working with Juno data as a Juno Science Team member.
He has also contributed to iconic science programming including the BBC’s Wonders of the Solar System, Stargazing Live, The Sky at Night and Discovery Channel’s Jupiter: Close Encounter. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
