Thomas (Tom) E. Harrison's Home Page

Current Activities

Working on the fundamental properties of cataclysmic variables using HST astrometry, and infrared spectroscopy: such as U Gem, SS Cyg and SS Aur ( SS Cyg light curve), at NMSU, in Las Cruces, New Mexico (a nice view of NM & AZ).

Recent papers, mostly infrared photometric and spectroscopic observations of interacting binaries:

  • Spitzer observations of intermediate polars

  • The secondary star of V616 Mon

  • Why are the secondary stars of polars so normal?
  • IR Spectroscopy of Shorter Period CVs--where's the Carbon, and what's all this about 13CO?
  • EF Eri, part deux.
  • The new Neptune-mass planet.
  • IR Spectroscopy of Long Period CVs--where's the Carbon?
  • Astrometric Calibration of the Mv-Porb Relationship
  • The wild and wonderful world of WZ Sge
  • The always confusing EF Eri
  • That mean and nasty little black hole
  • IR Astrometric and Spectroscopic Parallaxes of U Gem, SS Cyg, and SS Aur.
  • Good old Nova Herculis 1991,

    Here are some new SPEX spectra of CVs:

    Carbon-deficient U Gem

    Carbon & Mg-deficient SS Cyg

    Here are some infrared argon arc lamp spectra (with the vacuum wavelengths of the strongest lines identified) obtained using SPEX:

    J-band (1.0 to 1.2 microns)

    J-band (1.2 to 1.4 microns)

    H-band (1.5 to 1.8 microns)

    K-band (1.98 to 2.4 microns)

    OH lines in the K-band using OSIRIS (2.10 to 2.26 microns)

    DIS arcs:

    B1200, Center = 4500 Å

    R1200, Center = 8200 Å

    R1200, Center = 6300 Å

    (Remember that blue is on the right in raw DIS red spectra)

    Recent webcam images:

    Saturn (3/09/04)

    Jupiter (3/28/04)

    Jupiter (3/09/04)

    Venus (daytime, 3/10/04)

    First Quarter Moon (3/28/04) shots (in mediocre seeing):

    Vallis Alpes & Cassini

    Werner crater

    Hyginus rille

    Current Situation

    Observatory Scientist, Astronomy Department, New Mexico State University

    Astronomy 301 webpage.

    Astronomy 110 webpage.

    What I'm watching/listening to...some of which might be offensive:

    Pussycat song
    Yellow ribbons...
    Beer
    Benny Lava

    but seriously....

    The Hunger, The Distillers
    Forever fades away, Tiger Army
    In your heart, A Place to Bury Strangers
    Geeking, The Spinnarettes
    No Cigar, Millencolin
    Man named truth, Monsters of Folk
    Exit 109, Dale Watson
    You're a wolf, Sea Wolf
    New dark ages, Bad Religion
    Angry anthem, Forces of Evil
    28 Teeth, Buck-O-Nine
    Drivin' nails in my coffin, Ernest Tubb
    Golden state, John Doe
    New Mexico, Cinematics
    Grapevine fires, Death Cab for Cutey
    Half-truism, The Offspring
    Cripple creek, Scrugss & Flatt
    Echo beach, Martha and the Muffins
    Is there a ghost, Band of Horses
    Shake, Mad Marge and the Stonecutters
    Signs, Five Man Electrical Band
    F*ck hollywood, Anti Heroes
    Kreuzberg, Bloc Party
    Jet boy, Jet girl, Elton Motello
    Galaxies, Laura Veirs
    Cocaine Blues, Johnny Cash
    New divide, Linkin Park
    Up From Below, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
    Too hot for words, Linnzi Zaorski
    Ready for the floor, Lissy Trullie
    Ms Connection, Film School
    Mr Zoot Suit, The Flying Neutrinos
    I'm waiting, Lindsey Buckingham

    Connections

    Here is my list of useful, interesting, and/or silly links.

    Some random images:

    My wife (her homepage), Buzz Aldrin, Eta Car, An X-Ray Binary , The Coma Cluster, Shoemaker- Levy, The Cygnus Loop , Nova Cygni 1992, Distant Cluster , Jupiter, Saturn, Titan, M87, M100, Inside a red dwarf, NGC1850, NGC253, ,the VLA, NM Chile.

    M83 from CTIO with the 0.9 meter (in B&W).

    Cen A from CTIO with the 0.9 meter (in B&W).

    Images from our campus observatory Meade 16" telescope with ST8 CCD:

    1) 180s R-band exposure of M42 (unguided, 2X2 binning).

    The initial tracking quality on our 16" was rather poor, after much fiddling, we have reduced this to about 1" r.m.s. Proof is shown in the R-band image of M67, which has an exposure time of 4 minutes (one complete worm revolution).

    2) 240s R-band Exposure of M67 (unguided, raw image).

    3) The Moon (4/1/98).

    3) 240s R-band Exposure of M51 (unguided).

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