Dr. Michael W. Davis
Institute Scientist
SPIE Involvement:
Author
Area of Expertise:
UV spectroscopy , UV, Vis, and IR detectors , Astronomical instrumentation , ZEMAX , Optical Design and Tolerancing , IDL Programming
Websites:
Profile Summary

Dr. Davis is an astrophysicist specializing in the design and testing of astronomical instruments. His research interests include UV/VIS/IR imaging and spectroscopy, planetary atmospheres, and galactic astrophysics. His graduate training focused on the development of Michigan State University’s Spartan IR Camera for the 4-m Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope at Cerro Pachon, Chile. His dissertation research developed a new method for measuring the mass of groups of distant galaxies via gravitational lensing and photometric redshifts. Dr. Davis has integrated and tested UV instrumentation for over 15 years, including the Big Dog Planetary Rocket payload (NASA sounding rocket flights 36.201 UL and 36.210 UL) and the ALICE spectrograph for New Horizons. He is the Instrument Scientist for the Rapid Acquisition Imaging Spectrograph Experiment (RAISE, NASA sounding rocket flight 36.219 US), and designed the slit-jaw camera for that payload. Dr. Davis is the Optics, Detector, and Calibration Scientist for the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP), an ALICE-type instrument for NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Dr. Davis is also a member of the LAMP science team. Dr. Davis is the optics, detector, and calibration lead for the UVS instrument for NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter. He also supports optical design and test efforts for projects ranging from extreme ultraviolet imaging to rotating prism assemblies for imaging and low-res spectroscopy in the near-infrared. Dr. Davis is in charge of the Division 15 Vacuum Ultraviolet Radiometric Test Chamber used to test and calibrate spaceflight UV instrumentation. Dr. Davis is an expert user of the ZEMAX optical design software package since 1999, and has received training in both Advanced Optical Design and Stray Light and Illumination from ZEMAX Development Corporation. Dr. Davis has authored or co-authored over 55 technical papers in the fields of ultraviolet spectroscopy and astronomical instrumentation.
Publications (41)

SPIE Journal Paper | 4 March 2024 Open Access
Philippa Molyneux, Todd Veach, Michael Davis, Gregory Fletcher, Jerry Goldstein
JATIS, Vol. 10, Issue 01, 015003, (March 2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.10.1117/1.JATIS.10.1.015003
KEYWORDS: Tunable filters, Image filtering, Extreme ultraviolet, Optical transmission, Microchannel plates, Optical filters, Imaging systems, Indium, Sensors, Emission wavelengths

Proceedings Article | 5 October 2023 Presentation + Paper
Michael Davis, Maarten Versteeg, G. Randall Gladstone, Sue Ferrell, Philippa Molyneux, Steven Persyn, Kurt Retherford
Proceedings Volume 12678, 126780X (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2675923
KEYWORDS: Ultraviolet radiation, Space operations, Microchannel plates, Vacuum, Histograms, Calibration, Spectrographs, Equipment, Light sources and illumination

Proceedings Article | 2 October 2023 Poster + Paper
Proceedings Volume 12666, 126660L (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2672566
KEYWORDS: Mirrors, Ultraviolet radiation, Optical surfaces, Reflectivity, Contamination, Polymers, Gold, Calibration, Neon, Microchannel plates

Proceedings Article | 31 August 2022 Poster + Paper
Michael Davis, Kurt Retherford, Philippa Molyneux, G. Randall Gladstone, Noel Eloriaga, Rohini Giles, Thomas Greathouse, Ujjwal Raut, Todd Veach, Sue Ferrell, Maarten Versteeg, Matthew Freeman, Kristian Persson
Proceedings Volume 12181, 1218138 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2630530
KEYWORDS: Calibration, Sensors, Ultraviolet radiation, Spatial resolution, Spectrographs, Microchannel plates, Point spread functions, Aluminum, Spectral resolution

Proceedings Article | 31 August 2022 Poster + Presentation + Paper
Michael Velez, Kurt Retherford, Vincent Hue, Joshua Kammer, G. Randall Gladstone, Michael Davis, Thomas Greathouse, Tracy Becker, Philippa Molyneux, Shawn Brooks, Ujjwal Raut, Andrew Steffl, Maarten Versteeg
Proceedings Volume 12181, 1218133 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2630352
KEYWORDS: Ultraviolet radiation, Stars, Data modeling, Jupiter, Spectrographs, Atmospheric modeling, Spectral models, Reflectivity, Pluto, Oxygen

Showing 5 of 41 publications
Conference Committee Involvement (3)
UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XXI
11 August 2019 |
UV/Optical/IR Space Telescopes and Instruments: Innovative Technologies and Concepts V
21 August 2011 | San Diego, California, United States
X-Ray, UV, Visible, and IR Instrumentation for Planetary Missions
4 August 2009 | San Diego, California, United States
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