John R. Thorstensen Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth since 1980

Home > People > Faculty > John Thorstensen

Education

• University of California, Berkeley: Ph.D. 1980
• Haverford College, B. A.; Astronomy & Physics double major (both High Honors), 1974

Contact Information

• Office: 239 Wilder
• Telephone: (603) 646-2869
• E-mail: john.r.thorstensen@dartmouth.edu

Research Interests

Optical astronomy; fundamental astronomy of cataclysmic variable stars; astrometry.

SkyCalc, JSkyCalc, -- Programs for "Coordinates, Time and the Sky"

In addition to his astronomical research, Professor Thorstensen is the author of the widely-used skycalc program, which computes time-and-the-sky information useful to optical astronomers. A Java version with a modern graphical user interface is described and linked here. The older C/Python codes, which include the text-only form, Python-callable versions, a Tkinter graphical user interface, and several extensive manuals, are available in this tar.gz file.. Finally, a monograph on "Coordinates, Time, and the Sky", suitable for use in courses, is linked here.

Selected Recent Publications

"Is FIRST J102347.6+003841 Really a Cataclysmic Binary?", with E. Armstrong, 2005, Astronomical Journal, 2005, 130, 759. Available on astro-ph.

"Parallaxes and Distance Estimates for Fourteen Cataclysmic Variable Stars", 2003, Astronomical Journal, 126, 3017. Available on astro-ph.

"PG0027+260: An Example of a Class of Cataclysmic Binaries with Mysterious, But Consistent, Behavior", with F. A. Ringwald, R.A. Wade, G.D. Schmidt, J.E. Norsworthy, Astronomical Journal 102, 272 (1991).

"1RXS J232953.9+062814: A Dwarf Nova with a 64-minute Orbital Period and a Conspicuous Secondary Star", with Fenton, W. H., Patterson, J. O., Kemp, J., Krajci, T., and Baraffe, I., 2002, Astrophysical Journal Letters, 567, L49. Available on astro-ph.

"The Dwarf Novae of Shortest Period", with Patterson, J., Kemp, J., and Vennes, S., 2002, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 114, 1108. Available on astro-ph.

"The Expansion Center and Dynamical Age of the Galactic Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A", with Fesen, R. A., and van den Bergh, S., 2001, Astronomical Journal, 122, 297. Available on astro-ph.

Last Update: October 30, 2006

Site contact:largent@Dartmouth.EDU

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