Biography
Dr. Benjamin Byron is a postdoctoral researcher in the Planetary Sciences Group at the University of Central Florida. He earned a BS in Physics from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2014, a MS in Physics from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2018, and a PhD in Physics from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2020. From 2020 to 2023, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Research
Dr. Byron uses orbital and Earth-based remote sensing observations to interpret the composition and physical properties of airless bodies. More specifically, he has utilized ultraviolet through radar wavelength observations from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and other lunar spacecraft to investigate space weathering and better understand the material properties of the lunar surface. He has also performed thermal modeling to interpret how heat propagation through the lunar regolith is affected by things such as rock abundance and porosity. In graduate school he worked at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio as a member of the LRO Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) instrument team. As a postdoctoral researcher at NASA JPL, he joined the LRO Diviner Lunar Radiometer instrument team. He is currently a member of the Lunar-VISE team at UCF, an upcoming lander and rover mission that will explore the Gruithuisen domes region of the lunar surface with the goal of understanding lunar silicic volcanism.
Publications
ORCID: 0000-0003-4435-0347
Byron, B. D., Elder, C. M., Glotch, T. D., Hayne, P. O., Pigue, L. M., & Cahill, J. T. S., (2023). Evidence for Fine-Grained Material at Lunar Red Spots: Insights from Thermal Infrared and Radar Data Sets. The Planetary Science Journal, 4(9), 182. https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/acf134
Magaña, L. O., Retherford, K. D., Byron, B. D., Hendrix, A. R., Grava, C., Mandt, K. E., et al. (2023). LRO‐LAMP Lunar South Pole Cold Traps: Assessment of H2O and Potential CO2 and NH3 Reserves. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, e2023JE007863. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JE007863
Czajka, E., Retherford, K., Kramer, G., Hendrix, A., Cahill, J., Byron, B. D., et al. (2023). New Insights into Aristarchus Crater with LRO LAMP Far-ultraviolet Observations. The Planetary Science Journal, 4(8), 137. https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/acdee9
Byron, B. D., Elder, C. M., Williams, J.-P., Ghent, R. R., Gallinger, C. L., Hayne, P. O., & Paige, D. A. (2022). Thermophysical Properties of Lunar Irregular Mare Patches from LRO Diviner Radiometer Data. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 127, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JE007214
Magaña, L. O., Retherford, K. D., Byron, B. D., Hendrix, A. R., Grava, C., Mandt, K. E., et al. (2022). LRO‐LAMP Survey of Lunar South Pole Cold Traps: Implication for the Presence of Condensed H2O. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, e2022JE007301. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JE007301
Byron, B. D., Retherford, K. D., Czajka, E., Cahill, J. T. S., Hendrix, A. R., & Greathouse, T. K. (2021). Lunar Surface Composition Constraints from Maturity-Corrected Far-Ultraviolet Reflectance Maps. The Planetary Science Journal, 2(5), 189. https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ac1d53
Byron, B. D., Retherford, K. D., Greathouse, T. K., Wyrick, D., Cahill, J. T. S., Hendrix, A. R., et al. (2020). Far-UV Observations of Lunar Rayed Craters with LRO-LAMP. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 125. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JE006269
Byron, B. D., Retherford, K. D., Greathouse, T. K., Mandt, K. E., Hendrix, A. R., Poston, M. J., et al. (2019). Effects of Space Weathering and Porosity on the Far‐UV Reflectance of Amundsen Crater. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 124(3), 823-836. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JE005908