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Dr Matthew Rutala

Name: Matthew (Matt) Rutala

Title: Postdoctoral Research Fellow

E-Mail:  mrutala@cp.dias.ie

Address: School of Cosmic Physics, DIAS Dunsink Observatory, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, Dublin 15, Ireland.

Research Interests:

  • Short-term and small-scale dynamics of Jovian (and outer planet) aurorae
  • Local time variations in the effects of magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling and field-aligned currents
  • Comparison of planetary magnetic and plasma environments

Biographical Sketch:

Matt’s research focuses on the study of Jupiter’s dynamic ultraviolet aurorae, the intense northern and southern lights surrounding the planet’s magnetic poles. These aurorae result directly from interactions between Jupiter’s ionosphere and vast magnetosphere which are communicated by powerful current systems, all of which must be studied together to better understand the aurorae. Matt completed his PhD, “Shedding New Light on the Enigmatic Motions of Jupiter’s Auroral Main Emission,” in 2023 at Boston University. Over the course of his doctoral studies, Matt used remote observations of Jupiter’s ultraviolet aurorae from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and in-situ measurements of Jupiter’s magnetospheric plasma from the Galileo spacecraft to characterize Jupiter’s auroral ionosphere and magnetosphere, respectively, and related these two regions to one another via two-dimensional modeling of the planet’s coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere system. Moving forward with the DIAS Planetary Magnetospheres group, Matt plans to extend his expertise to include contemporary Juno measurements of Jupiter’s plasma environment, auroral emissions outside the Jovian Main Emission and in wavelengths other than the ultraviolet, and deeper modeling of the Jovian magnetosphere.

ORCiD: 0000-0002-1837-4057

Funding: Irish Research Council