Philip Massey

Astronomer, Lowell Observatory

Phil observing at the MMT, Nov 2003. Photo by Kathy Eastwood.

A mosaic of 9 fields in Andromeda being surveyed by the Local Group Galaxies Survey project. This mosaic was assembled by Knut Olsen.

Observing the SMC and LMC (framed in the dome slit) on the CTIO 4-m in December 2005.

Phil got his BS and MS from Caltech (1975), and his PhD from the Univ of Colorado (1980). He held a postdoctoral appointment at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (1981-1983), and then joined the staff of Kitt Peak National Observatory in 1984 as a staff astronomer. His duties there including looking after after the 4-m telescope as its telescope scientist. He analyzed the thermal envirmonent in order to improve the delivered image quality (seeing). Phil joined the Lowell staff September 2000.

Research Interests

The Evolution of Massive Stars
The Initial Mass Function
Young Clusters
Local Group Galaxies
- See the description of our Survey of Local Group Galaxies Currently Forming Stars
Instrumentation and data reduction
- The spectrum of the night sky
- Re-commissioning the Hydra fiber positioner at WIYN

Recent publications

Image of the Magellan telescopes, the southern Milky Way, and the LMC taken by Kathryn Neugent during our recent observing run. See also Kathryn's description of the REU program in The Lowell Observer .

Descrption of the M31 F and G Supergiant project with REU student Maria Drout.

Observing at the MMT with REU Student Amanda Zangari.

Phil's Observing to WIYN (Sept 06) and the MMT (Oct 06)

Phil's Pretty Good Trip to Chile Dec 2005 (with REU student Emily Levesque)

Phil's Excellent Trip to Chile Nov/Dec 2004 (with REU student Emily Levesque)

Outreach

Phil usually works with an undergraduate student each summer through the NSF's Research Experiences for Undergraduates program at NAU/Lowell. The work usually leads to at least one published paper with the student, plus attendance at a meeting by the student to present our results. Students that have worked with Phil in Flagstaff: > >

Summer	Student	Project	Student-attended Meeting	Publication
2009	Kathryn Neugent	Physical Properites of O-type Clouds: CMFGEN vs FASTWIND	Washington DC AAS Meeting (Jan 2010)	In prep
2008	Maria Drout	F and G Supergiants in M31	Pasadena Cool/Hot Workshop (Nov 2008); Long Beach AAS Meeting (Jan 2009)	(1) Drout et al. 2009, "Yellow Supergiants in the Andromeda Galaxy (M31)", Astrophysical Journal, 703, 441 (2) Drout & Massey (2010), "Filling in the Yellow Void: A Census of F and G Supergiants in M31", in Hot and Cool: Bridging Gaps in Massive Star Evolution, ASP Conference Series, in press
2007	Amanda Zangari	The Physical Properties of O-type in the Magellan Clouds Stars	Austin AAS Meeting 209, Austin, TX (Jan '08)	(1) Massey et al. 2009, Astrophysical Journal, 692, 618 (2) Melena et al. 2008, Astronomical Journal, 135 878
2006	Taylor McNeill	A Search for H-alpha Emission Stars in M31/M33	Seattle AAS Meeting 207 (Jan '07)	(1) Massey et al 2007, Astronomical Journal, 134, 2474; (2) Massey et al. 2007 Astronomical Journal, 133, 2393
2005	Erin Darnell	Eclipsing O Stars in Clusters		Morrell et al. 2007
2004	Emily Levesque	The Effective Temperature Scale of Galactic Red Supergiants	San Diego AAS Meeting 205 (Jan '05); Washington DC AAS Meeting 207 (Jan '06)	(1) Levesque et al 2005, Astrophysical Journal, 628, 973; (2) Massey et al. Astrophysical Journal 634, 1286; (3) Levesque et al. 2006, Astrophysical Journal, 645, 1102 (4) See also several interviews with Emily: This one and and another
2003	Wayne Schlingman	Photometry of stars in M33	Atlanta AAS Meeting 203 Jan '04	Massey et al. 2006, Astronomical Journal, 131, 2478
2001,2002	Shadrian Holmes	Wolf-Rayet Stars in IC10	Albuquerque AAS Meeting 200 June '02	2002 Astrophysical Journal 580, L35
2001	Julia Vukovich	Massive Binaries in the R136 Cluster		2002 Astrophysical Journal 565, 982
2000	Alaine Duffy	Search for Wolf-Rayet Stars in the SMC	San Diego AAS Meeting 197 Jan '01	2001 Astrophysical Journal 550, 713
1999	Cathy Slesnick	A Modern Study of h and Chi Persei	Atlanta AAS Meeting 195 Jan '00	Slesnick, Hillenbrand, & Massey, 2002 Astrophysical Journal 576, 880
1998	Elizabeth Waterhouse	The Progenitor Masses of Wolf-Rayet Stars and Luminous Blue Variables Determined from Cluster Turn-offs.		2001 Astronomical Journal 121, 1050 and 2000 Astronomical Journal 119, 2214
1996	Valorie Burkholder	The 'Mass Discrepancy' for Massive Stars	Toronto AAS Meeting 189 Jan '97	1997 Astrophysical Journal 490, 328
1995	Olivia Johnson	Survey for Wolf-Rayet Stars in M33		1998 Astrophysical Journal 505, 793
1994	Kelsey Johnson	The IMF and Massive Star Evolution in the OB Associations of the Northern Milky Way	Tucson AAS Meeting 185 Jan '95	1995 Astrophysical Journal 454, 151
1993	C. C. Lang	The Initial Mass Function of the Magellanic Clouds		1995 Astrophysical Journal 438, 188

A few of the other summer students Phil has been priviledged to work with:

Jennifer Johnson (circa 1991 Kitt Peak)
- Massey & Johnson 1993 AJ 105, 980 "Massive Stars Near Eta Carina"
Caryl Gronwall (1989 Kitt Peak):
- Massey & Gronwall 1990, ApJ, 358, 344 "The Kitt Peak Spectrophotometric Standards-Extension to 1 micron"
- Massey, Gronwall, & Pilachowski 1990, PASP 102, 1046 "The Spectrum of the Kitt Peak Night Sky"
Mariabeth Silkey (circa 1988 Kitt Peak):
- Massey, Silkey, Garmany, & DeGioia-Eastwood 1989, AJ, 97, 107 "The Stellar Content of Two OB Associations in the LMC - LH117 (NGC2122) and LH 118"
Kevin Strobel (circa 1987 Kitt Peak):
- Massey, Strobel, Barnes, & Anderson 1988, ApJ, 328, 315 "Spectrophotometric Standards"
Chris Wilson (1986 Kitt Peak):
- Massey, Armandroff, Pyke, Patel, & Wilson 1995, AJ, 110, 2715 "Hot Luminous Stars in Selected Regions of NGC 6822, M31, and M33"
Eric Wilcots (1985 Kitt Peak)
Taft Armandroff (1985 Kitt Peak):
- Armandroff & Massey 1985 ApJ 291, 685 "Wolf-Rayet Stars in NGC 6822 and IC 1613"

E-mail: massey @ lowell.edu