Professor de Pater’s research interests include: infrared observations using adaptive optics on the Keck, Gemini and VLT telescopes of e.g., the giant planets, their ring systems, and the satellites Titan and Io. She also continues to observe the giant planets at radio wavelengths using the (recently upgraded) Very Large Array, ALMA, and LOFAR.
She is well known for her work on Jupiter’s synchrotron radiation, for which she received the URSI John Howard Dellinger Gold Medal in Aug. 1984. She led a worldwide campaign observing Jupiter’s radio emissions during the impact of comet D/Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter in 1994. This work has lead to a detailed investigation of the effects of impacts on the magnetospheric environment of the planet.
Her book “Planetary Sciences” was awarded the 2007 Chambliss Award for Writing from the American Astronomical Society.