Trailblazer of the Week
Nicholas Piskurich
27 May 2022
Nicholas Piskurich loves a lot of things. He loves singing karaoke, playing piano, shooting hoops, assembling his Star Wars Legos, and expanding his creative if not downright wacky collection of sneakers (the crazier the better). But he also really, truly loves rocks.
“It may sound cliché, but looking up at night and seeing the Moon in the sky and realizing that my work is devoted to understanding its formation feels quite profound to me,” says Piskurich, a Planetary Science PhD candidate at the University of Central Florida (UCF) whose research focuses on analyzing the compositional variation of the lunar surface using remote sensing datasets.
To determine a planetary body’s rock composition, scientists like Piskurich examine specific wavelengths of light and how it behaves in absorbing, scattering, or emitting light to reveal surface mineralogy. One surface feature has piqued his interest.
“My PhD candidacy project has focused on studying the lunar irregular mare patches (IMPs), which are hypothesized volcanic features that are widely distributed throughout the near side of the Moon,” he says. “I use the data collected from Chandrayaan-1’s Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) and Lunar Diviner Radiometer (Diviner) instruments to create maps and spectral parameters to characterize the composition of IMPs and their surroundings.”
The Moon’s visibly dark, cratered terrains that dominate its near-side formed by filling craters with lavas, mostly more than 3 billion years ago. But the atypical IMPs are odd colors, have jagged margins and are, unusually, little-cratered, so they have been categorized as “irregular” mare patches. IMPs have complicated the established theories of the Moon’s geologic history because they are either young or represent a different type of lunar volcanic activity.
“I have developed a modified data analysis code that takes spectrum data from M3 and outputs more detailed spectral parameters that expand our knowledge of the mineralogy of the surface,” he explains.
Piskurich simultaneously uses thermally emitted radiation.
“I also have started using Diviner data to characterize particular thermal emissivity features that are dominant in the thermal infrared (TIR) wavelength region,” Piskurich says. “The measurements collected from Diviner are highly complementary to those collected via M3 because they can provide further constraints on the mineralogy of the surface.”
“Many different formation mechanisms have been proposed, but no one definitive mechanism has been decided on,” explains Piskurich. “Previous crater counting studies have shown that IMPs have relatively few superposed craters on their smooth mounds, which may indicate that IMPs could be perhaps as young as 100 to 10 million years old. It is generally recognized that volcanism "turned off" on the Moon around 2 to 1.5 billion years ago. So, if these crater counting studies are accurate, this could mean that volcanic activity on the Moon persisted for much longer than previously hypothesized. On the other hand, maybe the materials are weaker than other lavas for some reason, so the imprint of craters is destroyed.”
Piskurich’s path to explore the volcanic history of the Moon has been anything but ordinary. While he naturally had a propensity for math and parents who always encouraged his education, he wasn’t certain how he would apply his skills to a career. There were also personal experiences which left him with formative impressions on the real-world applications of science. His hometown in Pennsylvania has been subjected to major flooding events over the past century, and in 1977 the town was hit by another flood, with a death toll of 78. Two of those people were his grandparents.
“Hearing more about this story throughout my youth inspired me to learn more about how to use math and science to plan safe cities and infrastructures that could prevent events such as these in the future,” he says.
During his undergraduate study of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Notre Dame, Piskurich learned about designing bridges, buildings, and the geologic settings on which these structures would be built.
“It was in this department where I was exposed to research on Moon rocks via chemical and laboratory analytical techniques,” he says. “My career aspirations took a turn during undergrad as I worked with lunar Apollo samples with my advisor, Dr. Clive Neal. If I had not had these experiences and that particular anecdote from my personal life involving my grandparents, I may have never decided to pursue a degree in engineering, gotten involved in planetary science, and have ended up in the career that I currently have now.”
As Piskurich continues his analysis of IMP formation, his research is informing Lunar Trailblazer’s instrument objectives. His PhD advisor is Dr. Kerri Donaldson Hanna, a Lunar Trailblazer Co-Investigator who is an expert in the spectral properties of rocks under lunar conditions.
“Prof. Donaldson Hanna facilitated the opportunity for me to present some of my work on the IMPs and my project's relevance to the measurements that will be obtained by Trailblazer,” he says. “It is challenging currently with M3 and Diviner data due to their lower spatial resolution, and as IMPs can generally be quite small features—many are less than 1 km wide—it becomes difficult to identify IMPs within these datasets and gather detailed information.”
Since IMPs can provide a greater understanding about the Moon’s volcanic interior and magmatic evolution, Piskurich is thrilled that Lunar Trailblazer will help refine IMP characterization.
“Lunar Trailblazer’s two instruments have higher spatial and spectral resolution than prior datasets,” explains Piskurich. “It is astounding that we can use the information we obtain from rocks and minerals using these instruments to comprehend the formation of the Earth-Moon system.”
For Piskurich, it’s also a profoundly human pursuit.
“Understanding the origin of the Universe has been a question explored by scientists, philosophers, and laypeople alike since the beginning of civilization,” he says. “It is rare that anyone does not ponder this question at least once in their life. Every scientific contribution, no matter how small, can bring us one step closer to understanding our place in the Universe. That's the cool thing about science: the work being done now lives on.”
Nicholas Piskurich is a PhD candidate in Planetary Science at the University of Central Florida and Trailblazer of the Week!
Trailblazer of the Week is an ongoing series showcasing the diversity of experience and expertise that supports the collective determination of the Lunar Trailblazer mission.
By Emily Felder
Emily Felder is a Pasadena City College student and Caltech intern working on science communication for the Lunar Trailblazer mission.