Is there water on the moon? Is there life on Enceladus? This major can help you find the answer.

In your impression, what are the characteristics of planetary science researchers? Are you talking about the stars in the sky, or are you familiar with space science? In fact, these are not the specialties of planetary science researchers. The research object of planetary science is mainly the "past lives" of various planets, and it needs to draw nutrients from various disciplines.

How can we become an all-round planetary scientist who is familiar with astronomy, atmosphere, geology and internal structure? Let's take a look at the experience of haibaraemily, a doctor of planetary science!

(The column * * refers to the guest's own experience and is for reference only. PhDs from different universities/majors/research directions will have different experiences in research and life. * *)

In fact, many people have many misunderstandings about the major of planetary science. For example, I often encounter the following scenarios.

0 1

Planetary science vs astronomy

Alas, planetary science is really not studied by the whole universe. ...

02

Planetary science vs space science

Alas, planetary science is really not studied by everyone who flies in the sky …

What does planetary science study?

Strictly speaking, planetary science can be regarded as a branch of astronomy, which only studies a small number of celestial bodies in the broad category of astronomy.

Simply put, planetary science is the study of planets and planetary systems.

Such as planets, rings attached to planets, satellites, atmospheric magnetic dust, asteroids, comets and meteorites. ...

The details of these celestial bodies are all research fields of planetary science.

Research object of planetary science | UCL [1]

Generally speaking, we don't study stars (except the sun), galaxies, black holes and dark matter. ...

But the main difference between planetary science and traditional astronomy is not the "object of study", but more importantly, the "details of study".

In the field of planetary science, all celestial bodies are not just a point in a photo, but a world of their own. What is the outer layer, surface and internal environment of this celestial body? How did this celestial body come into being, what did it experience in the past and how did it develop to today? How is this celestial body influenced by the outside world, and how does it affect the outside world?

For example, how did the sandstorm on Mars come about? What is the volcanic eruption on Io? What is the tiger pattern on Enceladus? ...

Figure | National Aeronautics and Space Administration

These are areas that are often not involved in traditional astronomy, and in fact, they are difficult to involve. Because the traditional astronomical observation can hardly do anything about these details, only the close detection of the detector can give information.

In other words, planetary science is a subject that is highly dependent on detectors (of course, theoretical analysis, calculation and experimental research are also available), which in itself determines that planetary science is a very young subject-after all, the first artificial satellite Soviet Putnik 1 1957 was successfully launched, and the first (partially successful) lunar probe Soviet Moon 660,

Figure | National Air and Space Museum and National Aeronautics and Space Administration

On the other hand, in order to study these details, planetary science must be an interdisciplinary subject that is highly integrated with other disciplines. Such a brand-new discipline is to draw nutrients from various disciplines in order to make continuous progress.

Planetary science is closely related to space science and other disciplines from the beginning. After all, if you want to send a detector, what is the need? Space science (rocket, orbit, braking, etc. ), computer science, industrial design, manufacturing (detectors, scientific instruments, etc. )?

When we can finally launch a probe to fly over for close inspection, we should start analyzing scientific data, right? The detector took a large number of high-definition images of planets and satellites. How to analyze these images? Establish coordinate system, define latitude and longitude, correct and project images ... image processing and cartography have come out. In order to analyze the images of different bands obtained by the detector, there are all kinds of spectral data and radar data ... remote sensing is essential.

We can clearly see the surfaces of planets and satellites, but what can these reveal? Why are the moon, Mars and Venus different from the earth's surface? How are the dark areas (moon sea) and bright areas (highlands) of the moon formed? This used to be a volcano, and this used to be a lake. What happened here? Which landform came into being first, this landform or that landform? Geology has already appeared. Looking at the surface topography of each planet from the geological point of view can be said to be an important milestone in enriching planetary science.

Half-moon surface

What clues did the meteorite reveal? How to analyze the rock samples returned by Apollo sampling? Petrology, mineralogy and geochemistry must be completed.

How many layers are there inside the moon? Does Mars still have a liquid core? Other branches of seismology, gravity, thermodynamics and geophysics are also rapidly integrated into the study of planetary science.

Why is the atmosphere of Venus so thick? What is in the atmosphere? What are Jupiter's Great Red Spot and Polar Vortex? Atmospheric science, meteorology, fluid mechanics and other disciplines will also come.

What about Jupiter's magnetic field and radiation belt? Geomagnetism and space physics are also indispensable.

Found traces of water and suspected organic matter on Mars? Could there be life-sustaining conditions on Enceladus? Well, the creature is late, but it's here.

Mars | Worm Creativity

Do Martian immigrants want Gai Lou (architecture and materials science) and vegetable cultivation (agriculture)?

On the other hand, traditional astronomy is not completely separated from planetary science: it is still of great significance in the fields of planetary formation and orbital evolution, observation of small celestial bodies and observation of exoplanets. With the development of science and technology and the improvement of detector performance, the research scope of planetary science is still expanding: for example, with the increase of solar detectors such as Parker, scientists have been able to study the sun in detail; With Kepler and other exoplanet detectors helping us understand more and more details of exoplanets, scientists have been able to study many specific planets outside the solar system more and more deeply. From this perspective, the research fields of traditional astronomy and planetary science are gradually overlapping and overlapping.

In a word, an all-around player who knows astronomy, atmosphere, geology and internal structure is talking about planetary science.

My road to atypical scientific research

As an interdisciplinary subject, there are actually many eminent monks in our profession. No matter what you studied in physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, geology and atmosphere, you may suddenly turn to planetary science at any stage of your life. Yes, it's not only undergraduate to master's degree, but also master's degree to doctor's degree. Many researchers who have been in scientific research positions for many years may turn to planetary science because of some opportunities, which is very common.

However, my own road to scientific research is still not so typical.

My undergraduate major is geodesy, and my direction is spatial navigation and positioning, which is more closely related to "flying in the sky". Simply put, it is to learn how to calculate the position of the target by receiving the signals transmitted by multiple artificial satellites. For example, GPS and Beidou, as we all know, belong to this major.

The working principle of GPS requires at least four satellites to locate the target location (gif) | GIPHY [2]

At the beginning of my master's degree, I planned to study the gravity field and mass distribution in the South Pole of the Earth, but by some coincidence, I finally engaged in the research on the gravity field of Venus and the moon and turned to planetary geophysics.

Then, I gradually found that only knowing the knowledge and methods of geophysics will have many limitations in understanding some specific problems. For example, a part of the moon, although seemingly ordinary, can be found from the gravitational field that it is actually a relic of an ancient impact basin.

The ancient Mendel-Ridderborg basin is located between the two red arrows on the left, which is actually very weak and difficult to distinguish in the moon photos, but it shows obvious high-density accumulation characteristics in the Bouguer gravity anomaly map on the right. This unique skill of "seeing the essence through phenomena" is really the unique charm of geophysics | References [3]

So I gradually began to think about more geological accumulation. After my master's degree, I applied for a doctor's degree in planetary geology and switched to planetary geology. During the doctoral period, his main research content was the impact crater and impact source of Jupiter satellite, and he also dabbled in the dark spots of Mars.

Callisto (left) and Callisto (right) have dense impact craters | NASA

Although the postdoctoral stage temporarily returned to the study of lunar impact basin, it can be said that since the doctoral stage, it has been going around in a big impact process.

It is not recommended to change several general directions at the beginning of scientific research, and the disadvantages are obvious. Every time you change your direction, you need to supplement a lot of background knowledge and learn new research techniques and tools, which means that it is difficult for young researchers to accumulate research results (that is, papers) intensively and continuously in the early stage of research, and it is difficult to survive in the environment of "publish or perish".

But if there is any advantage, it is that my understanding of planetary science is more systematic than that of my colleagues of the same age. After all, I am a person who has studied more than five planets/satellites across six fields.

On the other hand, the learning experience of space navigation and positioning in my early years gave me a certain understanding of artificial satellites, and also made it easier for me to understand the space field, especially the information of detectors, orbits and radios.

All these make me eager for knowledge, like to find answers by searching information, and I have gained endless fun in my life.

About learning

As far as I know, there is no undergraduate major in planetary science in universities in Chinese mainland. Therefore, if you want to study for a master's or doctor's degree in planetary science in the future, or even engage in planetary science research in the future, you'd better study some majors or courses in related fields, such as earth science (geology, geochemistry, geophysics, etc.). ), physics, astronomy, mathematics, computer.

If you are about to finish your undergraduate course and want to continue studying for a master's degree or a doctor's degree ... Generally speaking, there are relatively few universities and scientific research institutions offering planetary science in China. However, with the development of disciplines, in recent years, more and more universities and institutions have added planetary science majors. For example, a university that joined the Planetary Science Alliance of China University last year can find a project team to study for a master's or doctoral degree:

University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, China University of Science and Technology, Sun Yat-sen University, Macau University of Science and Technology, Beihang University, Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), Nanjing University, China Geo University (Wuhan), Shandong University, Guilin University of Technology, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, China south university of science and technology of china, Wuhan University, Tsinghua University, Beijing Normal University, China Geo University (Beijing), Tongji University, Luoyang Normal University, South-Central University for Nationalities.

In addition, some units of the Chinese Academy of Sciences also have planetary science-related project teams, such as National Astronomical Observatory, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Yunnan Astronomical Observatory, Institute of Remote Sensing and Guiyang Institute of Geochemistry.

Of course, if you want to study abroad, many foreign schools have majors related to "Planetary Science" or "Earth and Planetary Science" from the undergraduate level, and you don't need "curve to save the country", you can apply directly.

About employment

If you want to continue to engage in scientific research after completing the study of planetary science, the main employment destination is universities and research institutes all over the world. Since then, the promotion tree of "postdoctoral-assistant professor-associate professor-professor" or "postdoctoral-distinguished associate researcher-distinguished researcher" has been lit up.

The bad news is that with more and more doctors and more people engaged in scientific research posts, the difficulty and duration of obtaining stable teaching posts are also rising rapidly, which brings a series of personal and family problems, which everyone who wants or has engaged in scientific research must consider.

The good news is that planetary science is a growing new discipline after all. As many universities and research institutes in China increase related majors one after another, some new research posts will be added. Although there are many more radishes, there are also many pits.

If you don't want to continue to engage in scientific research, changing careers is also a reasonable choice. No matter what major you are, you need to face many practical difficulties in the scientific research industry, such as income, work intensity, stability, time to spend with your family and so on. It's a good thing to study the major you are interested in, and it's by no means a "deserter" to consider career choice rationally.

Where will the researchers of astronomy-related majors go after changing careers? The survey of Nature Astronomy at the beginning of 20 18 showed that most male researchers switched to data science and programming, and most female researchers switched to education first, followed by data science [5].

The good news is that in addition to industries that are not directly related to upgrading, more and more popular science-related posts in non-universities and national scientific research institutions are open to doctoral students with professional foundation and scientific research training, such as some journals, private aerospace companies, new scientific and technological media, private educational institutions and so on.

In short, life is long, try your favorite way, and don't set limits for yourself just because you have learned more.

About the future

Suddenly, I have been in contact with planetary science for more than ten years. Frankly speaking, it's hard to say that this major has given me the life I want, and it's hard to imagine what I would be like today if I hadn't chosen scientific research or this major.

This new discipline, which originated from astronomy, integrates a hundred schools of thought and connects heaven and earth, constantly brings us new surprises and hopes and refreshes our understanding of the earth, the moon, the solar system and even beyond.

Author's business card

Typesetting: compressing sound

References:

[ 1]/yx/20 1907/t 20 190705 _ 4698502 . shtml

[5] Natural Astronomy, the first issue of the new year: beyond the academic profession/collection /cfxhgzjqvk)

1, I don't cure environmental pollution, I am a doctor of ecology!

2. What does a doctor of architecture do? Bricklayer? Contractor?

3. Can you speak well after reading a doctorate in linguistics?

4. You are a doctor of chemical engineering ... very dangerous!

As a doctoral student, do you also have something to say about your major?

Weekend column: What's my major?

Doctoral students tell you what it means to study for a doctorate, what is the daily life of doctoral students with different majors, what changes have taken place in their hearts before and after studying for a doctorate, how to spend a long single life, and the different performances of imported shampoo and domestic shampoo in relieving hair loss. ...

Architecture, ecology, linguistics, psychology, archaeology, biology, mathematics ... all the majors you want to know more about have studied or are studying hard.