The following Master Thesis Projects are carried out at the Freie Universität in the Postberg Planetary Sciences working group (AG Postberg).
Please email to the individual contact person named below each project.
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Contact: Dr. Jon Hillier (j.hillier@fu-berlin.de)
Metal coating of bacteria for impact ionisation mass spectrometry
The ability of impact ionisation mass spectrometers to recognise bacteria biosignatures in grains encountered in space is currently an exciting research topic. To simulate such processes in the laboratory requires the ability to accelerate bacteria to hypervelocities in an electrostatic accelerator, which in turn requires metal coating the bacteria. The aim of this project is to produce silver coated bacteria for such experiments. The project will suit an independent candidate with laboratory experience.
Contact: Dr. Jon Hillier (j.hillier@fu-berlin.de)
The following Master Thesis Projects are partly carried out available at the DLR Institute of Planetary Research in BerlinAdlershof
Please contact Dr. Katharina Otto (Katharina.Otto@dlr.de)
Berlin Adlershof:
Jets in focus
Help us design a camera system for a mission to Enceladus.We aim to design a camera that can image active Enceladus jets in sufficient details to inform a new perspective on physics behind jet eruptions, Enceladus inner workings and its habitability. To be able to select optical design and sensor, we need a model of ~100 active jets that is realistic in material distribution and light scattering properties. You will develop and work with a computer model of jets to render different observational geometries that will be potentially imaged by the camera. Potential extensions: spectral imaging, filter selection, observational planning strategies.
Contact: Anya Portyankina (ganna.portyankina@dlr.de)
Polar climates on MarsFor many years Planet Four (P4) project investigates activity in the Martian polar regions with the help of citizen scientists. Citizen scientist are volunteers on https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/mschwamb/planet-four who help us mark seasonal fans and blotches in images taken by HiRISE camera over most recent 10 Martian years. We are looking for an enthusiastic student to analyze Planet Four
data to estimate year-to-year changes in seasonal activity using P4 data. Potential extensions: HiRISE image co-registration, correlation to dust storms, atmospheric modeling.
Contact: Anya Portyankina (ganna.portyankina@dlr.de)
Are there visible changes on icy satellites?
Surfaces of icy satellites in Jupiter and Saturn systems are some of the youngest in the Solar System. For example, given the existence of active jets, hinting to active internal processes, it is realistic to expect recent surface changes on Enceladus. Cassini had imaged Enceladus multiple times between 2005 and 2017 and provides possible change detection opportunity. Even if no changes detected, this information serves as input to models estimating resurfacing rates from endogenic processes and global heat fluxes on Enceladus. Potential extensions: Machine learning, similar considerations can be applied to Europa, Ganymede, and – while not icy - Io.
Contact: Anya Portyankina (ganna.portyankina@dlr.de)
MLbasedOutlierDetectionofAltimetermeasurements
Implementationofalgorithmsforoutlierdetectioninlaseraltimetry.ThesealgorithmsshallbebasedonMLtechniquesusingMESSENGERMLAdatasets.TheprojectssupportstheBELAdataacquisitionfortheBepiColombomission.
Contact: Hauke Hussmann (hauke.hussmann@dlr.de)
Mercury'sSurfaceRoughness
Basedondata-setsfromtheMESSENGERmission,thesurfaceroughnessofMercuryonvariousspatialscalesshallbedeterminedandcorrelatedwith geophysicalandsurfaceprocesses.BothlaseraltimetryandDTMdatashallbeusedfortheanalysis.TheprojectssupportsthepreparationoftheBELA experimentonBepiColombo.
Contact: Hauke Hussmann (hauke.hussmann@dlr.de)
TidaldeformationofMercury
BasedonsimulationsthetidaldeformationofMercury'ssurfaceshallbeinvestigated.ProspectsforthedetectionwithBELAusingaltimetrycrossoversin simulatedmissionscenariosofBepiColomboshallbeevaluated.
Contact: Hauke Hussmann (hauke.hussmann@dlr.de)
Mercury'sAlbedo
ThealbedoofMercuryinthenearinfraredshallbeanalysedbasedonMESSENGERdata.Correlationswithgeologicalfeaturesand/ortopographyshallbe searchedfor.TheprojectssupportsthepreparationoftheBELAexperimentonBepiColombo.
Contact: Hauke Hussmann (hauke.hussmann@dlr.de)
Stereo-imagingonEnceladus
ForafuturemissiontoSaturn'smoonEnceladus,theprospectsforstereo-derivedtopographyshallbeevaluated.Basedontheplannedtrajectory,stereo conditionsandopportunitiesshallbeinvestigatedandoptimzedforDTMgeneration.ProspectsfordeterminingthelibrationofEnceladusshallbeassessed.
Contact: Hauke Hussmann (hauke.hussmann@dlr.de)
EnceladusOrbits
Generally,orbitsaroundSaturn'smoonEnceladusareunstableduetoSaturn'sstronggravitationalperturbations.Specificorbitsremainstableatleastonthe orderofdaystoweeks.MissionscenariosforfutureEnceladusmissionsshallbeoptimizedwithrespecttotrajectorystabilityandusageofadditional propellant(delta-v).
Contact: Hauke Hussmann (hauke.hussmann@dlr.de)
Europa'sTidalDistortion
TidaldeformationandtidaldissipationforJupiter'smoonEuropashallbecalculated.Computationaltoolsareavailableandshallbeappliedtodifferent interiorstructuremodels.Thetidaldistortionshallbecalculatedfordifferentexcitationfrequencies.
Contact: Hauke Hussmann (hauke.hussmann@dlr.de)
The following Master Thesis Projects are carried out at the Freie Universität in the Planetary Sciences - Geodynamics working group (AG Noack).
Please email to the individual contact person named below each project.
The atmospheric temperature structure of the exoplanet WASP-33b inferred from high-resolution transmission spectroscopy
The investigation of exoplanets is one of the most quickly expanding fields in astrophysics. A key tool for the characterization of exoplanet atmospheres is transmission spectroscopy, which analyzes the starlight transmitted through the atmosphere of the exoplanet. The aim is to characterize the atmospheric temperature structure of WASP-33b, the second hottest gaseous exoplanet known, by comparing the absorption fingerprints of absorber species from transit observations with template spectra. The aim is to look for the presence of a range of species and to constrain the atmospheric temperature-pressure as well as chemical structure. Candidates should attend the course "Exoplanet Observation Techniques", which is offered in the winter semester.
Contact: Dr. Engin Keles (engin.keles@fu-berlin.de)
Long-term high-resolution transit observations of the lava world 55 Cnc e
Transmission spectroscopy of exoplanet atmospheres enables us to infer the characteristics of planets in foreign stellar systems. Recent discoveries confirmed the presence of terrestrial planets showing surface temperatures above 2000K. Such worlds are denoted as Lava worlds and they are the first step to characterize a true Earth-analog planet in the future. A large number of high-spectral resolution transit observations have been acquired in recent years for the rocky exoplanet 55 CNC e to study simultaneously the host star activity as well as atmospheric fingerprints of this lava world. Candidates should attend the course "Exoplanet Observation Techniques", which is offered in the winter semester.
Contact: Dr. Engin Keles (engin.keles@fu-berlin.de)
