Professor Tom Stallard

Professor

School: Engineering, Physics and Mathematics

Tom started his research history completing a PhD in Planetary Astronomy at University College London in 2001. He worked as a research associate there until 2007.

In 2007, he became an RCUK academic fellow at the University of Leicester. In 2012, he was promoted to Associate Professor there and in 2021, he became the College of Science and Engineering Graduate Director of Postgraduate Research.

In 2022, he moved to Northumbria University to become a Professor of Planetary Astronomy in the Solar and Space Physics group.

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Research Themes and Scholarly Interests

Tom Stallard is a planetary astronomer who utilises a combination of ground-based telescopes and instruments on spacecraft to understand the upper atmospheres and ionospheres of the giant planets.

This region of the atmosphere is fascinating because, within its thin air, we see the coupling between two grand systems. At the Sun, the driving forces that dominate the upper atmosphere come from beneath. At Earth, it is the Solar Wind outside the planet that forces energy down into the top of the atmosphere. At the giant planets, because the ionosphere collides with the neutral atmosphere, but carries and is carried by currents from the surrounding magnetosphere, these two chaotic, massive systems are forced to interact. By measuring this interaction, we can reveal the complicated nature of giant planet atmospheres, but also better understand this complex interaction in places where the atmosphere or magnetosphere typically dominate.

Beyond this work measuring the upper atmospheres of Giant Planets, he also plays an important role in the development of such missions, from driving the scientific programme before launch, through ongoing mission planning, and the detailed calibration and analysis of this data.

More broadly, he is also interested in understanding the development of life within the universe, as well as exploring how intellegent life might develop in comparison to the Anthropocene on Earth. He also works to understand and improve PhD supervision within Physics.

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Atmospheric Ion-Neutral Coupling as a Potential Driver for Saturn's Magnetospheric Antisunward Electric Field, Stallard, T. 16 Feb 2026, In: Geophysical Research Letters
JWST Discovers the Vertical Structure of Uranus' Ionosphere, O'Donoghue, J., Knowles, K., Tiranti, P., Moore, L., Melin, H., Roberts, K., Stallard, T., Thomas, E. 5 Feb 2026, In: Geophysical Research Letters
Short-Term Variability of Jupiter's Satellite Footprints as Spotted by JWST, Johnson, R., Stallard, T., Schmidt, C., Thomas, E., Knowles, K., Tiranti, P., O'Donoghue, J., Moore, L., Melin, H., Roberts, K., Szalay, J. 16 Feb 2026, In: Geophysical Research Letters
Auroral and Non‐Auroral H3+ Ion Winds at Uranus With Keck‐NIRSPEC and IRTF‐iSHELL, Thomas, E., Stallard, T., Melin, H., Chowdhury, M., Moore, L., O'Donoghue, J., Johnson, R., Wang, R., Knowles, K., Tiranti, P., Dello Russo, N., Vervack, R., Kawakita, H. 16 Apr 2025, In: Geophysical Research Letters
Correction: O’Donoghue, J.; Stallard, T. What the Upper Atmospheres of Giant Planets Reveal. Remote Sens. 2022, 14, 6326, O’Donoghue, J., Stallard, T. 1 Sep 2025, In: Remote Sensing
Discovery of H+3 and infrared aurorae at Neptune with JWST, Melin, H., Moore, L., Fletcher, L., Hammel, H., O'Donoghue, J., Stallard, T., Milam, S., Roman, M., King, O., Rowe-Gurney, N., Thomas, E., Wang, R., Tiranti, P., Harkett, J., Knowles, K. 1 May 2025, In: Nature Astronomy
Dominant Drivers of Jupiter's H3+ Northern Aurora:1. Magnetic Field Strength and Planetary Local Time, Stallard, T., Knowles, K., Melin, H., Wang, R., Thomas, E., Moore, L., O'Donoghue, J., Johnson, R., Miller, S., Coxon, J. 19 Aug 2025, In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Dominant trends in Jupiter's H3+ northern aurora: II. Magnetospheric mapping, Stallard, T., Knowles, K., Melin, H., Wang, R., Thomas, E., Moore, L., O'Donoghue, J., Johnson, R., Miller, S., Coxon, J. 1 Oct 2025, In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Electron Densities in Jupiter's Upper Ionosphere Inferred From Juno Plasma Wave Observations, Kurth, W., Faden, J., Waite, J., Sulaiman, A., Hospodarsky, G., Connerney, J., Kammer, J., Greathouse, T., Valek, P., Allegrini, F., Bagenal, F., Stallard, T., Moore, L., Coffin, D., Agiwal, O., Withers, P., Bolton, S. Mar 2025, In: Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
Future Measurement Needs: Surface Processes, Migliorini, A., Holler, B., Grundy, W., Stallard, T., Tosi, F., Young, L. 1 Jan 2025, Triton and Pluto, Bristol, IOP Publishing Ltd.

PGR Supervision

Naoise Creery Jupiter’s fiery aurora – how heat is driven into the atmosphere Start Date: 01/10/2025 End Date: 17/10/2025
Naoise Creery The Aurora and Ionosphere of Neptune Start Date: 01/10/2025
Katie Knowles ??Traces of Magnetic and Atmospheric Coupling in Jupiter’s Non-Auroral Ionosphere? Start Date: 01/10/2022
Katie Knowles Traces of Magnetic Field in Jupiter's Equatorial Ionosphere Start Date: 01/10/2022 End Date: 17/10/2025