We aim to better understand the flow of plasmas and properties of planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond.

For that matter we combine analytical models, numerical simulations and observations from spacecraft and telescopes.

Key Research Areas:

• Solar Sytem Bodies and their Plasma Environments
• Search for Liquid Water
• Turbulence in Space Plasmas
• Exoplanets
• Planetary Atmospheres

Key Methods:

• Numerical Simulations
• Analytical Theory
• Telescope Observations
• Spacecraft Observations
• Time Series Analysis

Selected Publications:

• Kotsiaros et al., Birkeland currents in Jupiter's magnetosphere observed by the polar-orbiting Juno spacecraft, Nature Astronomy, doi: 10.1038/s41550-019-0819-7

• Fischer and Saur, Time-variable Electromagnetic Star-Planet Interaction: The TRAPPIST-1 System as an Exemplary Case, doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/aafaf2
• Saur et al., Wave-Particle Interaction of Alfvén Waves in Jupiter's Magnetosphere: Auroral and Magnetospheric Particle Acceleration, Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Volume 123, Issue 11, pp. 9560-9573, 11/2018
• Mura et al., Juno observations of spot structures and a split tail in Io-induced aurorae on Jupiter, Science, Volume 361, Issue 6404, pp. 774-777, 08/2018
• Saur et al., The UV Spectrum of the Ultracool Dwarf LSR J1835+3259 Observed with the Hubble Space Telescope, The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 859, Issue 1, article id. 74, 11 pp., 05/2018
• Saur et al., The search for a subsurface ocean in Ganymede with Hubble Space
  Telescope observations of its auroral ovals, JGR, 2015
• Roth et al., Transient water vapor at Europa's south pole, Science, 2014

In the News:

• EOS 5/22/2019: Editor’s Higlights
• Press Release University Cologne July 2019: Jupiter’s Aurora
• EOS 02/01/2019: Editors’ Highlights
• SPIEGEL ONLINE, 12.03.2015: Jupitermond Ganymed: Ozean unter dem Eis
• SPIEGEL ONLINE, 12.12.2013: Ozean unter dem Eis: Jupitermond Europa schießt Wasserfontänen ins All