Faculty/Scientists

Publications

Thomas G Barnes III

Superintendent McDonald Observatory

Research Interests

Observational aspects of variable stars, particularly distance scale issues for Cepheid and RR Lyrae variables.

Group Areas

Galactic Structure, Stellar Pulsation

G. Fritz Benedict

Senior Research Scientist

Research Interests

Space astrometry; search for extrasolar planetary systems; surface photometry of galaxies; barred galaxies.

Group Areas

Extrasolar Planetary Systems, Cool Stars, Galactic Structure, Space Astrometry

Michel Breger

Adjunct Professor

Research Interests

Stellar astrophysics: the formation, structure and evolution of stars; asteroseismology; photometry and polarimetry.
Theory and Observations of Pulsating Stars

Harriet Dinerstein

Professor

Research Interests

Planetary nebulae; abundances in gaseous nebulae; infrared, optical, and ultraviolet spectroscopy of emission lines; extragalactic H II regions and star formation in disk galaxies; classical novae.

Group Areas

HII Regions & Planetary Nebulae, Chemical Abundances

Mary Kay Hemenway

Senior Lecturer

Research Interests

Astronomy education.

Group Areas

EXES: mid-IR spectrograph

David Lambert

Director McDonald Observatory

Research Interests

Stellar atmospheres; chemical composition of stars; chemical evolution of the universe.

Group Areas

Chemical Abundances

Phillip MacQueen

Senior Research Scientist

Research Interests

Instrumentation, CCD detectors, exoplanets, the Galaxy halo.

Barbara McArthur

Research Scientist

Research Interests

HST Astrometry; search for extrasolar planets.

Group Areas

Space Astrometry, Extrasolar Planetary Systems, Cool Stars, Galactic Structure

Mike Montgomery

Research Scientist

Research Interests

Pulsation and seismology of white dwarf stars, nonlinear light curve modeling, numerical and theoretical studies of convection, evolution of white dwarf stars, constitutive physics of white dwarfs (crystallization, diffusion), Science Director of Whole Earth Telescope.

Group Areas

White Dwarfs, Whole Earth Telescope, Stellar Pulsation, Asteroseismology

Edward Nather

Professor Emeritus

Research Interests

Observational studies of interacting binary collapsed stars; asteroseismology of white dwarfs; the Whole Earth Telescope.

Group Areas

Whole Earth Telescope

Edward L Robinson

Professor

Research Interests

Observational studies of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes; cataclysmic variables, low-mass X-ray binaries, X-ray transients; pulsating white dwarfs.

Matthew Shetrone

Senior Research Scientist

Research Interests

Observational techniques; queue scheduled telescopes; galactic nucleosynthesis; stellar evolution.

Chris Sneden

Professor

Research Interests

Chemical composition of stars; stellar evolution; galactic nucleosynthesis.

Group Areas

Chemical Abundances

Jocelyn Tomkin

Research Fellow

Research Interests

High-resolution stellar spectroscopy.

Don Winget

Professor

Research Interests

Theory and observation: cosmochronology; evolution of the Milky Way; late stages of stellar evolution; stellar pulsations; white dwarf stars as dark matter detectors; the Whole Earth Telescope.

Group Areas

White Dwarfs, Asteroseismology, Whole Earth Telescope, Stellar Pulsation

Postdocs

Publications

Barbara Castanheira

Postdoctoral Fellow

Ivan Ramirez

Sagan Postdoctoral Fellow

Research Interests

Chemical abundances of planet-host stars; solar twin stars; Galactic chemical evolution; stellar granulation.

Group Areas

Chemical Abundances

Graduate Students

Publications

Ross Falcon

Graduate Student

Group Areas

White Dwarfs

James Hermes

Graduate Student

Group Areas

White Dwarfs

Julie Hollek

Graduate Student

Group Areas

Chemical Abundances

Undergraduate Students

Publications