Data Analysis

I have always been intersted in data analysis techniques and calibrations. In addition, I have also become experienced in the construction of data analysis pipelines. This capability has been useful not only in calibration efforts, but also in other scientific activities which involve analyzing large data sets.

Research activities:

I am currently the PI of an AISRP project to make IUE times series observations more accessible. The browser can be accessed here.

I am also currently involved in a project to correct the large, systematic errors in IUE NEWSIPS (and INES) high dispersion extracted spectra.

From 1995 through 1997, I was a heavily involved with the, now defunct, ADF at Goddard, which was part of the Space Science Data Operations Office. During that time, I was a UV/Optical Acquisition Scientist, and instrumental in developing several UV browsers, and supporting material, much of which is now available at MAST at STScI.

As an acquisition scientist, I also performed science verification activities which resulted in the discovery of several problems with the IUE Final Archive (NEWSIPS) data. These are summarized in a paper which was presented at the conference Ultraviolet Astrophysics Beyond the IUE Final Archive held in Seville in 1997 November.

The problems with the low resolution NEWSIPS IUE data can be largely corrected. The corrections algorithms are described in a the preprint A recalibration of IUE NEWSIPS low dispersion data by Massa and Fitzpatrick.

Some relevant publications:

``Vector Space Methods of Photometric Analysis: Applications to O Stars and Interstellar Reddening'', D. Massa & C.F. Lillie 1978, ApJ, 221, 833

``Vector Space Methods of Photometric Analysis. II. Refinement of the MK Grid for B Stars'', D. Massa 1980, AJ, 85, 1644

``Vector Space Methods of Photometric Analysis. III. The Two Components of Ultraviolet Extinction'', D. Massa 1980, AJ, 85, 1651

``Peculiar UV Interstellar Extinction'', D. Massa, B.D. Savage, & E.L. Fitzpatrick 1983, ApJ, 266, 662

``The UV Extinction Toward 5 Open Clusters and the Accuracy of IUE Extinction Measurements'', D. Massa & E.L. Fitzpatrick 1986, ApJS, 60, 305

``An Instrument for Optimizing a Space borne Interferometer: Applications to Calibrating the Cepheid Distance Scale'', D. Massa & A.S. Endal 1987, AJ, 93, 760

``Expected Angular Separations of Late-Type Supergiant + B Star Binaries in the Milky Way and LMC'', D. Massa & A.S. Endal 1987, AJ, 93, 579

``The Variability of UV Extinction-Curve Shapes and Its Impact Upon Dereddened UV Energy Distributions'', D. Massa 1987, AJ, 94, 1675

``Calibration of the Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE)'' D.J. Fixen, ... D. Massa, ... 1994 ApJ, 420, 457

``A Recalibration of IUE NEWSIPS Low-Dispersion Data'', Massa, D., Fitzpatrick, E.L. 2000 ApJS, 126, 517

``On-Orbit Performance of the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer Satellite'', Sahnow, D.J., Moos, H.W., Ake, T.B., Andersen, J., Andersson, B.-G., Andre, M., Artis, D., Berman, A.F., Blair, W.P., Brownsberger, K.R., Calvani, H.M., Chayer, P., Conard, S.J., Feldman, P.D., Friedman, S.D., Fullerton, A.W., Gaines, G.A., Gawne, W.C., Green, J.C., Gummin, M.A., Jennings, T.B., Joyce, J.B., Kaiser, M.E., Kruk, J.W., Lindler, D.J., Massa, D., Murphy, E.M., Oegerle, W.R., Ohl, R.G., Roberts, B.A., Romelfanger, M.L., Roth, K.C., Sankrit, R., Sembach, K.R., Shelton, R.L., Siegmund, O.H.W., Silva, C.J., Sonneborn, G., Vaclavik, S.R., Weaver, H.A., Wilkinson, E. 2000 ApJ, 538, L7