Tim Naylor

Algorithm and Technique Development

I have also worked data acquisition and reduction techniques. By good observational technique, and careful data reduction I have managed to obtain exquisite correction for the effects of absorption in the Earth's atmosphere on stellar spectra. The most dramatic example of this process was our detection of features at the 1 percent level in the cataclysmic variable SS Cyg (Webb, Naylor & Jeffries 2002). This showed its secondary star has the cool spots predicted by the idea that magnetic braking drives the mass transfer in these stars. The method has also allowed us to derive precise masses and radii for the secondary stars in these systems, confirming the theoretical predictions are correct, but also suggesting peculiar abundances as a result of the binary evolution (Naylor, Allan & Long 2005; Beekman et al 2000).