TTU Physics Department.

TTU Physics: Faculty

Picture of Dr. Ron Wilhelm.
Ron Wilhelm
Assistant Professor of Physics/Honors College
Office Phone: (806) 742-4707
Email: Ron.Wilhelm@ttu.edu
Office: 9 Science Building

 

Ph.D. Physics, Michigan State University (1995)

M.S. Physics, Bowling Green State University (1989)

B.S. Physics, Bowling Green State University (1985)

 

Web links

Preston F. Gott Skyview Observatory

Research Interests

I am a stellar astronomer exploring the chemical abundance and kinematics of ancient stars in the halo and thick disk of the Milky Way Galaxy. The main goal of my research is to use stellar populations to piece together the formation and evolution history of our Galaxy. My research involves spectroscopic analysis of stellar absorption features to determine fundamental stellar parameters of temperature, surface gravity, chemical abundance, radial velocity and distance. I am an external participant in the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE) and work in various collaborations including the determination of distances to high velocity clouds in the halo and the Stellar Century Survey.

Selected Publications:

Re Fiorentin, P., Bailer-Jones, C.A.L., Lee, Y.S., Beers, T.C., Sivarani, T., Wilhelm, R., Allende Prieto,C. and Norris, J.E. (2007) Estimation of stellar atmospheric parameters from SDSS/SEGUE spectra, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 467, 1373.

Lauchner, A., Powell, W.L.J. and Wilhelm, R. (2006) Discovery of a Tidal Stream Extending from NGC 5053, Astrophysical Journal, 651, L33.

Carollo, D., Beers, T.C., Lee, Y.S., Chiba, M., Norris, J.E., Wilhelm, R., Sivarani, T., Marsteller, B., Munn, J.A., Bailer-Jones, C.A.L., Re Fiorentin, P. and York, D.G., The Dichotomy of the Galactic Halo of the Milky Way, 2007, Nature (submitted) arXiv:0706.3005.