UCL DEPARTMENT OF SPACE AND CLIMATE PHYSICS
MULLARD SPACE SCIENCE LABORATORY

Chris Arridge

Dr Chris Arridge is a physicist studying the giant planets of our solar system (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) and how they interact with the Sun and the rest of the Solar System.

He studied physics at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and applied mathematics at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge (at Darwin College) before studying for a doctorate in The Department of Physics at Imperial College London. He studied some of the first data to be returned from the Cassini spacecraft at Saturn and was awarded his PhD in 2007. From 2006 to 2009 he was a postdoctoral researcher at University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory based in the Surrey hills 13 miles from Guildford, followed by a Science and Technology Facilities Council Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Since October 2012 he has been a Royal Society University Research Fellow and proleptic lecturer.

Chris' work focuses on the space environments surrounding giant planets, also known as their magnetospheres. Although we think of space as a vacuum, the space surrounding the planets is filled with atoms, molecules, and charged particles some of which have come from the planets, their ring systems and moons, and the Sun. His recent work has involved trying to understand how our Sun's 11-year "Solar Cycle" affects the magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn, trying to understand the origin of Saturn's aurorae (also known as the northern lights) and auroral radio emissions, and examining how tiny charged ice grains move near Saturn's enigmatic moon Enceladus. He is not only involved in the Cassini mission to Saturn, but is also involved in developing missions such as the Europa Jupiter System Mission to Jupiter and its moon Ganymede, and in trying to get a spacecraft launched to Uranus. Chris' work is funded by the Royal Society, Science and Technology Facilities Council, the European Space Agency, and NASA.

Chris is active in public engagement and regularly speaks to a wide variety of audiences from schools to astronomical societies and astronomy festivals. He also works directly with young people, supervising summer projects for A-level students through the Nuffield Science Bursaries for Schools and Colleges and CREST schemes, and also judging such projects at regional and national science fairs such as The Big Bang. He is a freelance planetarium presenter at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

Chris lives in Brighton and enjoys dancing Jive and Lindy Hop, reading, running, triathlons, mountain marathons, playing and writing computer games, and cooking and eating very spicy food.

Main Research Interests

• Giant planets: their magnetospheres and radiation environments.
• Robotic exploration of the solar system and space instrumentation.
• Planetary and magnetospheric magnetic fields.
• Astrophysical magnetospheres.

Recent publications

Arridge, C.S., N. André, H.J. McAndrews, E.J. Bunce, M.H. Burger, K.C. Hansen, H.-W. Hsu, R.E. Johnson, G.H. Jones, S. Kempf, K.K. Khurana, N. Krupp, W.S. Kurth, J.S. Leisner, C. Paranicas, E. Roussos, C.T. Russell, P. Schippers, E.C. Sittler, H.T. Smith, M.F. Thomsen, M.K. Dougherty, Mapping Magnetospheric Equatorial Regions at Saturn from Cassini Prime Mission Observations, Space Sci. Rev., 164(1-4), pp. 1-83, doi:10.1007/s11214-011-9850-4, accepted 8 October 2011, published online 17 January 2012.

Arridge, C.S., C.B. Agnor, N. André, K.H. Baines, L.N. Fletcher, D. Gautier, M.D. Hofstadter, G.H. Jones, L. Lamy, Y. Langevin, O. Moussis, N. Nettelmann, C.T. Russell, T. Stallard, M.S. Tiscareno, G. Tobie, A. Bacon, C. Chaloner, M. Guest, S. Kemble, L. Peacocke, N. Achilleos, T. Andert, D. Banfield, S. Barabash, M. Barthelemy, C. Bertucci, P. Brandt, B. Cecconi, S. Chakrabarti, A. Cheng, U. Christensen, A. Christou, A. Coates, G. Collinson, J.F. Cooper, R. Courtin, M.K. Dougherty, R.W. Ebert, M. Entradas, A.N. Fazakerley, J.J. Fortney, M. Galand, J. Gustin, M. Hedman, R. Helled, P. Henri, S. Hess, R. Holme, O. Karatekin, N. Krupp, J. Leisner, J. Martin-Torres, A. Masters, H. Melin, S. Miller, I. Müller-Wodarg, B. Noyelles, C. Paranicas, I. de Pater, M. Pätzold, R. Prangé, E. Quémerais, E. Roussos, A.M. Rymer, A. Sénchez-Lavega, J. Saur, K.M. Sayanagi, P. Schenk, G. Schubert, N. Sergis, F. Sohl, E.C. Sittler Jr., N.A. Teanby, S. Tellmann, E. Turtle, S. Vinatier, J.-E. Wahlund, P. Zarka, Uranus Pathfinder: Exploring the Origins and Evolution of Ice Giant Planets, Exp. Astron., doi:10.1007/s10686-011-9251-4, in press, 2011.

Jackman, C.M. and C.S. Arridge, Solar cycle effects on the dynamics of Jupiter’s and Saturn’s magnetospheres, Solar Physics, doi:10.1007/s11207-011-9748-z, 2011.

Provan, G., D.J. Andrews, C.S. Arridge, A.J. Coates, S.W.H. Cowley, G. Cox, M.K. Dougherty, C.M. Jackman, Dual periodicities in planetary period magnetic field oscillations in Saturn’s tail, J. Geophys. Res., 117, A01209, doi:10.1029/2011JA017104, accepted 1 Nov 2011, published 14 January 2012.

Contact

Email: c DOT arridge AT ucl DOT ac DOT uk

Twitter: @chrisarridge

LinkedIn: Chris Arridge

Blog: Giants and Strangers

Telephone: +44 (0)1483 204 150 (direct dial) 204 100 (switch-board)

Fax: +44 (0)1483 278 312

Postal: Dr. Chris Arridge
Mullard Space Science Laboratory
University College London
Holmbury St. Mary
Dorking
Surrey
RH5 6NT
United Kingdom

Career

H-index=22

2012 - present

Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London
Royal Society University Research Fellow

2009 - 2012

Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London
STFC Postdoctoral Research Fellow

2006 - 2009

Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London
Postdoctoral Research Associate

2003 - 2006

Space and Atmospheric Physics Group, The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London
STFC-funded PhD student
Thesis title: "On the configuration and dynamics of Saturn's magnetosphere"
Supervised by Prof. Michele K. Dougherty and Dr. Nick Achilleos

2002 - 2003

Darwin College, University of Cambridge
Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics
Student studying Part III of the Mathematical Tripos

2002

University Courses of Svalbard, Norway
ERASMUS European exchange student

2001

Anglo-Australian Observatory, Australia
Summer student helping develop the Echidna FMOS instrument

1998 - 2002

Department of Physics (now Institute of Mathematics and Physics), University of Wales, Aberystwyth
MPhys (Hons) Physics with Planetary and Space Physics

Current Students

• Marianna Felici (PhD candidate)
• Jamie Jasiński (tertiary supervisor, with Andrew Coates and Geraint Jones) (PhD candidate)
• Jane MacArthur (Masters project supervisor)

Former Students

• Sarah Clark (Masters project second-supervisor, 2012)
• Chris Moges-Beach (Masters project supervisor, 2012)
• George Ryall (Masters project supervisor, 2012)
• Neil Clegg (Nuffield School and College Bursary, 2012)
• Tim Culwick (Royal Astronomical Society Undergraduate Research Bursary, 2012)
• Arnaud Guerin (Masters project supervisor, 2012)
• Beth Semikin (Nuffield School and College Bursary, 2011)
• Patrick Dunn (Masters project supervisor, 2011)
• Hannah Hargrave (2011)
• Elgin Candoleta (Masters project supervisor, 2010)
• Jiameng Gao (Nuffield School and College Bursary, 2010)
• Ashwin Braude (Nuffield School and College Bursary, 2010)
• Tim Culwick (Nuffield School and College Bursary, 2008, winner RCUK Experience Prize at the Big Bang 2009)
• Quentin Miller (Masters project supervisor, 2007)
• Georges-Rémy Fouad (Masters project supervisor, 2007)
• Chris Marsh (Masters project second-supervisor, 2007)