Planetary geology

Planetary geology, alternatively known as astrogeology or exogeology, is a planetary science discipline concerned with the geology of celestial bodies such as planets and their moons, asteroids, comets, and meteorites. Although the geo- prefix typically indicates topics of or relating to Earth, planetary geology is named as such for historical and convenience reasons; due to the subject matter, it is closely linked with more traditional Earth-based geology.

Planetary geology includes such topics as determining the properties and processes of the internal structure of the terrestrial planets, surface processes such as volcanism, impact craters, even fluvial and aeolian action where applicable. Despite their outermost layers being dominated by gases, the giant planets are also included in the field of planetary geology, especially when it comes to their interiors. Fields within Planetary geology are largely derived from fields in the traditional geological sciences, such as geophysics, geomorphology, and geochemistry.

History

Eugene Merle Shoemaker is credited with bringing geologic principles to planetary mapping and creating the branch of planetary science in the early 1960s, the Astrogeology Research Program, within the United States Geological Survey. He made important contributions to the field and the study of impact craters, selenography (study of the Moon), asteroids, and comets.

Research and education

Major centers for planetary science research include the Lunar and Planetary Institute, Applied Physics Laboratory, Planetary Science Institute, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Southwest Research Institute, and Johnson Space Center. Outside the United States, the main institutes for geology research are JAXA’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) in Japan, the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research and German Aerospace Center both in Germany, the China National Space Administration in China and the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) in France.

Additionally, several universities conduct extensive planetary science research, including Montana State University, Brown University, the University of Arizona, California Institute of Technology, University of Colorado, Western Michigan University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Washington University in St.