Dr. Rebecca Ghent

Dr. Rebecca Ghent is interested in geological processes on the terrestrial planets, including Earth. Her recent work has focused on lunar surface evolution, especially impact cratering and regolith evolution. She has also worked on tectonic deformation on Venus using Magellan radar data, geological analyses of volcanic terrains on Mars using visible and infrared imagery, analysis of the Mars 2020 Curiosity rover landing site using ground penetrating radar, and measurements of dielectric properties of astromaterials. She enjoys investigating the physical processes that shape planetary surfaces, wherever in the Solar System they occur.

Left: this image portrays the conclusion of our 2019 paper that investigated the flux of impactors at both the Moon and Earth during the Phanerozoic. We presented evidence that the flux increased at ~290 million years before present, and is now 2-3 times as high as before that increase. Matt Russo, Andrew Santaguida, and Dan Tamayo set this to music, which you can experience here: https://youtu.be/ANYxkwvb8pc?si=9ipIIGKg7JVZjK06. Right: this image is from our 2024 paper on lunar rays, and shows the rayed crater Byrgius A. Panel A shows albedo rays; B shows maturity rays; C shows thermophysical rays, and D shows derived rock abundance. See details at https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ad293d.