Walt Harris

Walt Harris' research is focused on the structure of thin atmospheres and their transition to and interactions with the space environment. He is particularly interested the information that comet atmospheres provide about basic photochemical processes, the formation of the solar system, and the characteristics of the solar wind. He is also engaged in an ongoing study of the plasma interface between the solar wind and interstellar medium via remote sensing of interstellar neutral material as it passes through the solar system.

In addition to their observational program, Prof. Harris' group has an active instrument development effort in the area of spatial heterodyne spectroscopy, or SHS. SHS instruments occupy a special observational niche by providing very high velocity resolution of angularly extended emission line targets with much higher sensitivity than classical spectroscopy. Current funding for SHS development has led to new instruments for both ground (visible band) and suborbital (far ultraviolet) observations of comets and the interplanetary medium.