John Clarke

John T. Clarke (born 1952) is a professor of astronomy and director of the Center for Space Physics at Boston University. Clarke is best known for his Hubble Space Telescope observations of the aurora on Jupiter and Saturn, as well as over 260 papers in refereed journals, including every planet except Mercury and the interplanetary medium. Clarke's research is focussed on vacuum ultraviolet instrumentation and observations of planetary atmospheres. At present this includes primarily observations with the Hubble Space Telescope, overseeing the echelle channel on the MAVEN IUVS instrument orbiting Mars, and as Deputy-PI for the upcoming GLIDE mission to image the Earth's geocorona.

Early life and education Clarke was born in Chicago, Illinois. He received his bachelor's degree in physics from Denison University, located in Ohio, in 1974. He received both his master's and PhD in physics from Johns Hopkins University, in 1978 and 1980, respectively. His thesis involved far-ultraviolet observations of Jupiter and Saturn using the IUE satellite and a sounding rocket, including the aurora and day glow on both planets and the Io plasma torus.

Honors and awards (1987) NASA Scientific Research Award (1994) NASA Group Achievement Awards (3) for WFPC 2: First Servicing Mission, WFPC 2 Science, WFPC 2 Calibration (2012-2019) 4 NASA MAVEN Mission Awards

Professional memberships American Astronomical Society American Geophysical Union American Assoc. Adv. Science