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).

Current Situation

Observatory Astronomer, Astronomy Department, New Mexico State University

Some Recent papers:

  • Finally, Actual Distances to Classical Novae!
  • Herschel Observations of CVs (be gone you dusty CB disks!)
  • Low Mass Star Rotation Rates and Spots
  • A Precessing Synchrotron Jet in GX17+2?
  • Synchrotron Emission from CVs Part II
  • 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 what Carbon and, hey, 13CO?
  • EF Eri, part deux.
  • 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 (at least we were once confused)
  • 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,

    • Classes:

    Astronomy 105 webpage.

    Astronomy 110 webpage.

    Astronomy 301 webpage.

    Astronomy 536 webpage.

    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)

    Campus Observatory 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

    My YouTube playlist:

    Or just the highlight singles:

    Careless Reckless Love, Jay Farrar, Will Johnson, Anders Parker, Jim James
    Forty Pound Wedding, Skinny Lister
    Bohemian Rapsody, Mariachi Chillout
    Under an Impressive Sky, Echodrone
    Ain't Messin Around, Gary Clark Jr.
    Hard Times, Gob Iron
    Blue Ice, Shout Out Louds
    Were Her, The Orbans
    Jesus Fever, Kurt Vile
    Bamboo Bones, Against Me!
    Get Burned, Sleeper Agent
    Riviera Paradise, Stevie Ray Vaughan
    Sixpack, JEFF the Brotherhood
    Blue Guitar, Justin Hayward and John Lodge
    Music to Walk Home By, Tame Impala
    Tiger Rider, Deleted Waveform Gatherings
    There is an End, The Greenhornes
    Coming Down, Dum Dum Girls
    Breakers, Local Natives
    Doused, DIIV
    Synthesized, Epoxies
    Dark Star, The Sleepover Disaster
    High shelf Blues, Eilen Jewell
    From Finner, Of Monsters and Men
    Fallen Leaves, Billy Talent
    Where do we go?, The Darlings
    Welcome Home, Rehab
    Bad Company, Five Finger Death Punch
    This is Exile, Whitechapel
    Just a Gigolo, Louis Prima
    This is the end, Anti-Flag
    Cascade , Deluka
    Brotherhood, Flatfoot 56
    Furr , Blitzen Trapper
    Take me home After Midnight Project
    Dulcissima, Corvus Corax
    I Feel Better than James Brown, Was Not Was
    This too shall pass, OK Go
    Creeping Out Sara, NOFX
    This Addiction, Alkaline Trio
    The Hunger, The Distillers
    Ready to Die, Andrew W. K.
    Babylon's Burning, The Ruts
    Rank Stranger, The Knitters
    Big 10" (Record), Aerosmith
    French Poodle, Sam Butera and the Witnesses
    Pussycat song, Connie Vannett
    Yellow ribbons..., Asylum Street Spankers
    Beer, Asylum Street Spankers
    Benny Lava
    Pupu Hinuhinu, Keola Beamer
    She has a Girlfriend Now, Reel Big Fish
    Hooray for Beer, Bowling for Soup
    I'm Going Down, The Blue Bloods
    Closer to the Bone, Louis Prima
    Unwinding Cable Car, Anberlin
    Forever fades away, Tiger Army
    In your heart, A Place to Bury Strangers
    I Ain't Got Nobody Emmett Miller
    Geeking, The Spinnarettes
    No Cigar, Millencolin
    The Bleeding, Five Finger Death Punch
    On the Road, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
    Man named truth, Monsters of Folk
    Exit 109, Dale Watson
    You're a wolf, Sea Wolf
    New dark ages, Bad Religion
    Slack Key Soquel Rag, The Doobie Brothers
    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, Scruggs & 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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