After receiving degrees in Applied and Engineering Physics from Cornell University, a stint in the Israeli Air Force, and a PhD in Planetary Science from MIT, he arrived at Caltech, where his research focuses on planetary surfaces. On Mars for example, Aharonson has studied fluvial and lacustrine features, the layered rock record of past climate variations, and a giant impact origin of the global dichotomy. Aharonson participates in several spacecraft investigations of solar system bodies, including the Mars Exploration Rovers, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the Cassini mission to Titan.