Daniel P. Whitmire,  Ph.D.

Professor of Physics
The University of  Louisiana at Lafayette

e-mail: whitmire@louisiana.edu

Research Interests:


Research in comet dynamics includes investigation of the non-random signals in the distribution of galactic longitudes of new Oort cloud comets. This nonrandom signal manifests itself in part as an overpopulation of comet aphelia along a great circle in the sky. Our model (Matese, Whitman and Whitmire, Icarus 141, 354-366, 1999) to explain this overpopulated great circle requires a distant massive solar planet or T dwarf acting in conjunction with the galactic tide.

Currently, I am searching the half billion point sources in the 2mass data base for evidence of this object. This survey covered 99% of the sky at near infrared wavelengths of 1-2 microns. The optimum wavelength for our search is 5 microns but no such full sky survey exists, as yet. However, a recently approved NASA IR survey mission (WISE, Ned Wright of UCLA the principal investigator) is scheduled for launch in 2007. This instrument should easily detect the conjectured solar companion.

My research in astrobiology (in collaboration with Ray T. Reynolds, Jim Kasting, Chris Chyba,  John Matese and Laurance Doyle) has focused on the size and evolution of habitable zones around main sequence stars, and the formation of habitable planets in binary star systems.

Selected publications in collaboration with the above coauthors: