Dr. Barnes studies the physics of planets and planetary systems.  He uses NASA spacecraft data to study planets that orbit stars other than the Sun (extrasolar planets) and the composition and nature of the surface of Saturn's moon Titan.

• Extrasolar Planets

• AVIATR—Aerial Vehicle for In-situ and Airborne Titan Reconnaissance, 2012, Experimental Astronomy DOI: 10.1007/s10686-011-9275-9 .
• Obliquity variations of a moonless Earth, 2012 January, Icarus Vol. 217 pp 77-87 DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2011.10.013 .
• Organic Sedimentary Deposits in Titan's Dry Lakebeds: Probable Evaporite, 2011 November, Icarus Vol. 216, pp136-140 DOI: 0.1016/j.icarus.2011.08.022 .
• Measurement of the Spin-Orbit Misalignment of KOI-13.01 from its Gravity-Darkened Kepler Transit Lightcurve, 2011 November, The Astrophysical Journal Supplement, Vol. 197 paper 10 DOI: 10.1088/0067-0049/197/1/10 .
• Mapping Titan's Surface Features within the Visible Spectrum via Cassini VIMS, 2012 January, Planetary and Space Science, Vol. 60 Issue 1 pp52-61 DOI: 10.1016/j.pss.2011.03.021 .
• "Rapid and Extensive Surface Changes Near Titan's Equator: Evidence of April Showers", 2011 March 18, Science Vol. 331 pp1414-1417.
• "Wave constraints for Titan's Jingpo Lacus and Kraken Mare from VIMS specular reflection lightcurves", 2011 January, Icarus Vol. 211 pp722-731.
• "Kepler Planet-Detection Mission: Introduction and First Results", 2010 February, Science Vol. 327 pp977-980.
• "Transit Lightcurves of Extrasolar Planets Orbiting Rapidly-Rotating Stars", 2009 November, The Astrophysical Journal Vol. 705 pp683-692.
• "Shoreline features of Titan's Ontario Lacus from Cassini/VIMS observations", 2009 May, Icarus Vol. 201 pp217-225.