Dr. Teddy Kareta

Planetary Science 

PhD University of Arizona, 2021

Dr. Kareta joined the Lowell Observatory as a postdoc in 2021. His primary research interests are in understanding how the modern properties of the Solar System’s small bodies — particularly the comets, asteroids, and centaurs — can be related back to their formation conditions given that they have evolved significantly in the intervening four-and-a-half billion years. In particular, much of his dissertation work focused on understanding how these populations of objects are changing right now by characterizing those that have either recently stopped, started, or changed the character of their cometary activity.

Kareta primarily uses ground-based telescopic observations at visible and near-infrared wavelengths to characterize these small bodies, and utilizes orbital dynamics analyses, thermal modeling, and laboratory work to help interpret these observational data. At Lowell, he is continuing research on many of these questions and many more new ones through the MANOS project lead by Lowell Astronomer Dr. Nick Moskovitz and through several independent research programs utilizing the Lowell Discovery Telescope, the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, and other ground-based observatories