Dr. Lara Waldrop presents: Following in the Footsteps of George R. Carruthers
One of the most significant gaps in our knowledge of Earth’s near-space environment concerns its outermost neutral atmosphere layer known as the exosphere. This region plays a critical role in mediating Earth’s recovery from geomagnetic storms and is the pathway by which its constituent hydrogen (H) atoms are able escape Earth’s gravity and become lost to outer space, leading to permanent planetary evolution. Knowledge of exospheric structure and its temporal variability is needed to understand these crucial processes but is notoriously difficult to obtain, owing mainly to its vast extent, which ranges from ~500 kilometers above Earth’s surface to more than halfway to lunar orbit. Wide-field imaging of the ultraviolet (UV) light given off by exospheric H atoms is the ideal way to probe this region remotely, but very few images have been acquired since 1972, when Apollo 16 astronauts took the first picture of Earth from lunar surface using the UV camera invented by Dr. George R. Carruthers. His new namesake NASA mission, The Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, is explicitly designed to fill this decades-long measurement gap. Following its launch on September 24, 2025, the Carruthers mission has cruised more than one million miles away from Earth to the ideal vantage for continuous exospheric remote sensing: the Earth-Sun L1 Lagrangian equilibrium point. From L1, the GeoCoronal Imager onboard the Carruthers mission is obtaining both narrow- and wide-field images of the UV light emitted by exospheric H atoms at unprecedented spatial resolution and temporal cadence. This talk will introduce the new Carruthers mission and its success in continuing the legacy of its pioneering namesake.
Biography
Lara Waldrop is an Associate Professor and the Y.T. Lo Fellow of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Her research is focused on the development of techniques for remote sensing of optical emissions from upper planetary atmospheres, at wavelengths ranging from the near-infrared to the far-ultraviolet (FUV), by various ground- and space-based spectroscopic, photometric, and interferometric sensors. She is the Principal Investigator of NASA’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, which began acquiring unprecedented images of Earth’s outermost atmospheric layer and its dynamic response to solar activity in late 2025. Before joining UIUC initially as an NSF CEDAR Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Waldrop received her Ph.D. in Astronomy and Space Physics at Boston University in 2004. She served on the NSF CEDAR steering committee from 2006-2010, as chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee for Arecibo Observatory in 2013–2014, as a member of the External Advisory Committee for the High Altitude Observatory from 2015-2018, and as Co-Chair of the Ionosphere, Thermosphere, and Mesosphere panel as part of the National Academies’ Decadal Survey in Heliophysics, which was released in late 2024.
Meeting details
All NOVAC members, guests, and the public are welcome to attend — no RSVP required. You can attend the meeting virtually via Google Meet. Sign on at 4 pm to connect with fellow astronomers. The meeting starts at 4:30 with club information and general announcements. Program speaker starts at 5:00 pm.
Meet at GMU with colleagues
Join your NOVAC colleagues at 4:00 pm at either George Mason or virtually on Google Meet. NOVAC announcements and information will be presented at George Mason. Our guest speaker Dr. Waldrop will be present virtually. Meet at George Mason University, Exploratory Hall, Room 3301. Check the GMU web site for nearby parking options. Some lots or garages do charge for parking.
GMU Maps and Directions link: https://info.gmu.edu/campus-maps-and-directions/
Join Virtually
Google Meet
meet.google.com/cbf-jusw-dsm
Dial In
+1 252-344-1407 PIN: 937 923 741
Meeting Schedule
4:00 PM – Open participant discussion
4:30 PM – NOVAC news, announcements, and upcoming events
5:00 PM – Presentation
6:30 PM – Join your colleagues for dinner at nearby Oh George
This program will be recorded and available a few days after the meeting on the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club YouTube channel
