Gierasch

Peter Gierasch, Cornell professor of astronomy, an appraiser of atmospheres within our solar system’s distant worlds and a scientist on some of history’s famous space missions, was awarded astronomy’s prestigious Gerard P. Kuiper Prize by the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) on July 2.

Studying the dynamics and thermal structure of planetary atmospheres, Gierasch has served on numerous planetary missions, including Viking, Pioneer, Voyager, Galileo and Cassini. “His impact on the study of planetary atmospheres is exceptional, with some of his early papers still being frequently cited today, decades after their publication,” according to the Division of Planetary Sciences group.

“His papers on the Martian thermal and dynamical structure (1968), zonal-mean properties of Jupiter (1986) and Venus’ atmospheric rotation (1975) were groundbreaking and remain classics in the field. Long before the greenhouse effect and global warming became household terms, Peter worked these puzzles for Mars,” says the group.

Gierasch’s work often depends on data from spacecraft, and he examines atmospheric science by studying the range of atmospheric behaviors exhibited on different planets. He has scrutinized the zonal jets of Jupiter and Saturn; the cloud structure and energy balance of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune; the general circulation and strong super rotation of the atmosphere of Venus; and Martian atmospheric dust and its influence on climate.

Gierasch received his bachelor’s degrees (1962) and doctoral degree (1968) from Harvard University.

Cornell’s Joe Veverka won the prize in 2013, while the late space sciences professor Carl Sagan won the award posthumously in 1998. Other Kuiper Prize winners of the past have included: James Van Allen (1994), Fred Whipple (1985) and Gene Shoemaker (1984). Peter Goldreich ’60, Ph.D. ’63, won the Kuiper Prize in 1992, while a professor at the California Institute of Technology. Goldreich’s graduate adviser was the late Cornell astronomer Tommy Gold.

The Kuiper Prize is named for renowned astronomer Gerald Kuiper, who discovered carbon dioxide in Mars’ atmosphere and methane on Saturn’s largest moon Titan about 70 years ago, and who helped pick landing sites for the Apollo moon missions.