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Planetary Scientist
  • PhD, Physics
    2021, University of Texas at San Antonio
  • MS, Physics
    2018, University of Texas at San Antonio
  • BS, Physics
    2016, Emporia State University

Lizeth O. Magana joined the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory as a Post-Doctoral Lunar Fellow in 2022 after achieving a doctoral degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). As a member of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) team Magana investigates condesed volatiles at the lunar south pole. Magana additonally conducts laboratory investigations of the photometric and polarimetric response of various planetary regolith analogs. Previously Magana has  conducted LAMP in-flight calibration efforts and cometary investigations of Siding Spring. 

Notable Awards and Leadership

Year(s) Description
2019-2021 Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST)
2018-2020 Texas Space Grant Consortium Fellow
2021 Outstanding Student Paper Award (OSPA)
2020 JPL Planetary Science Summer School (PSSS)

Scholarly Publications

Surface Roughness at the Moon’s South Pole: The Influence of Condensed Volatiles on Surface Roughness at the Moon’s South Pole

The Planetary Science Journal, 2024
Lizeth O. Magaña, Parvathy Prem, Ariel N. Deutsch, Anna C. Martin, Heather M. Meyer, Caleb I. Fassett, Michael K. Barker, Angela Stickle, Benjamin D. Byron, Kathleen E. Mandt, Kurt D. Retherford, (2024), Surface Roughness at the Moon’s South Pole: The Influence of Condensed Volatiles on Surface Roughness at the Moon’s South Pole, The Planetary Science Journal

LRO‐LAMP Lunar South Pole Cold Traps: Assessment of H2O and Potential CO2 and NH3 Reserves

Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 2023
L. O. Magaña, K. D. Retherford, B. D. Byron, A. R. Hendrix, C. Grava, K. E. Mandt, U. Raut, E. Czajka, P. O. Hayne, D. M. Hurley, G. R. Gladstone, M. J. Poston, T. K. Greathouse, W. Pryor, J. T. Cahill, A. Stickle, (2023), LRO‐LAMP Lunar South Pole Cold Traps: Assessment of H2O and Potential CO2 and NH3 Reserves, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets

New Insights into Aristarchus Crater with LRO LAMP Far-ultraviolet Observations

The Planetary Science Journal, 2023
Elizabeth Czajka, Kurt Retherford, Georgiana Kramer, Amanda Hendrix, Joshua Cahill, Benjamin Byron, Benjamin Greenhagen, Thomas Greathouse, Lizeth Magaña, Kathleen Mandt, Cesare Grava, (2023), New Insights into Aristarchus Crater with LRO LAMP Far-ultraviolet Observations, The Planetary Science Journal

LRO-LAMP Observations of the Preperihelion Coma of Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring)

The Planetary Science Journal, 2022
Lizeth O. Maga~na and Kurt D. Retherford and Dennis Bodewits and Lori M. Feaga and Cesare Grava and Paul D. Feldman and Thomas K. Greathouse and John W. Noonan, (2022), LRO-LAMP Observations of the Preperihelion Coma of Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring), The Planetary Science Journal, 3, 1, 12, https://doi.org/10.3847/psj/ac3fa5

VALENTInE: A Concept for a New Frontiers–Class Long-duration In Situ Balloon-based Aerobot Mission to Venus

The Planetary Science Journal, 2022
Anicia Arredondo and Amoree Hodges and Jacob N. H. Abrahams and Candice C. Bedford and Benjamin D. Boatwright and Jennifer Buz and Clayton Cantrall and Joanna Clark and Andrew Erwin and Siddharth Krishnamoorthy and Lizeth Maga~na and Ryan M. McCabe and E. Carrie McIntosh and Jessica L. Noviello and Marielle Pellegrino and Christine Ray and Marshall J. Styczinski and Peter Weigel, (2022), VALENTInE: A Concept for a New FrontierstextendashClass Long-duration In Situ Balloon-based Aerobot Mission to Venus, The Planetary Science Journal, 3, 7, 152, https://doi.org/10.3847/psj/ac7324

Exogenic origin for the volatiles sampled by the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite impact

Nature Communications, 2022
K. E. Mandt and O. Mousis and D. Hurley and A. Bouquet and K. D. Retherford and L. O. Maga~na and A. Luspay-Kuti, (2022), Exogenic origin for the volatiles sampled by the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite impact, Nature Communications, 13, 1, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28289-6

LRO‐LAMP Survey of Lunar South Pole Cold Traps: Implication for the Presence of Condensed H2O

Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 2022
L. O. Magaña, K. D. Retherford, B. D. Byron, A. R. Hendrix, C. Grava, K. E. Mandt, U. Raut, E. Czajka, P. O. Hayne, D. M. Hurley, G. R. Gladstone, M. J. Poston, T. K. Greathouse, W. Pryor, J. T. Cahill, A. Stickle, (2022), LRO‐LAMP Survey of Lunar South Pole Cold Traps: Implication for the Presence of Condensed H2O, Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets

Size and Shape of (11351) Leucus from Five Occultations

The Planetary Science Journal, 2021
Marc W. Buie and Brian A. Keeney and Ryder H. Strauss and Ted E. Blank and John G. Moore and Simon B. Porter and Lawrence H. Wasserman and Robert J. Weryk and Harold F. Levison and Catherine B. Olkin and Rodrigo Leiva and Jerry E. Bardecker and Michael E Brown and Lilah B Brown and Michael P. Collins and Hugh M. Davidson and David W. Dunham and Joan B. Dunham and John A. Eaccarino and Tiffany J. Finley and Lindsay Fuller and Maria L. Garcia and Tony George and Kai Getrost and Megan, T. Gialluca and Rima M. Givot and David Gupton and William H. Hanna and Carl William Hergenrother and Yamir Hernandez and Bryan Hill and P. C. Hinton and Timothy R. Holt and Robert R Howell and Jack Lee Jewell and Roxanne L. Kamin and Joshua A. Kammer and Theodore Kareta and Gregory J. Kayl and John M. Keller and David A. Kenyon and Scott R. Kester and John N. Kidd and Tod R. Lauer and Cecilia W. S. Leung and Zoey R. Lorusso and Christopher B. Lundgren and Lizeth O. Magana and Paul D. Maley and Franck Marchis and Robert L. Marcialis and Andrew E. McCandless and Delsie Joy McCrystal and Allison Marie McGraw and Kelly E. Miller and Beatrice E. A. Mueller and J. W. Noonan and Aart M. Olsen and Alexander R. Patton and Daniel O'Conner Peluso and Michael J. Person and James G. Rigby and Alex D Rolfsmeier and Julien J. Salmon and Joseph Samaniego and R. P. Sawyer and David M. Schulz and Michael F Skrutskie and Rose J. C. Smith and John R. Spencer and Alessondra Springmann and Dale R. Stanbridge and Timothy J Stoffel and Peter Tamblyn and Bryan Tobias and Anne J. Verbiscer and Michael P. von Schalscha and Holly Werts and Qicheng Zhang, (2021), Size and Shape of (11351) Leucus from Five Occultations, The Planetary Science Journal, 2, 5, 202, https://doi.org/10.3847/psj/ac1f9b