Kris Davidson

Kris Davidson
Professor Emeritus, School of Physics and AstronomyContact
John T. Tate Hall Room 285-07 116 Church Street SeMinneapolis, MN 55455
Affiliations
Education
Ph.D., Cornell University, 1970
B.S., California Institute of Technology, 1965
Professional Background
- Director of Graduate Studies for Astronomy, University of Minnesota, 2006-2019.
- UMN Senate: 2005-present.
- UMN I.T.: Committee to evaluate re-appointment of the Head of the School of Physics & Astronomy, 2005-06.
- UMN I.T.: Library committee, 2005-present.
Highly ionized diffuse matter, particularly that associated with quasars, supernova remnants and X-ray sources - considered in "non-classical" nebular manner. Other aspects of X-ray sources and also very massive stars.
The nature of "Supernova Impostors": explosions that release as much radiation as a supernova, but leave the star almost intact. The most accessible example is Eta Carinae. SN impostors are far more mysterious than real supernovae, because their basic instabilities are largely unknown.
Expertise: Extremely massive stars, nebular processes, data analysis techniques, special problems. Has usually concentrated on a small number of special objects that give astrophysical information unobtainable anywhere else: Eta Carinae, Crab Nebula, etc.
Selected Publications
- Remmen, Davidson, & Mehner, Unexpected Ionization Structure in Eta Carinae's Weigelt Knots, Astrophys.J. will appear August 2013
- Humphreys, Davidson, et al., Luminous and Variable Stars in M31 and M33..., Astrophys.J., in press
- Roming et al., The Unusual Evolution of Supernova 2011ht., Astrophys.J. 751:92
- Ed. Davidson & Humphreys, Eta Carinae and the Supernova Impostors, Astrophys. & Space Sci. Library 184. Springer, 2012
- Humphreys, Davidson, et al., The Unusual... Evolution of... SN2011ht: Peculiar Supernova, or Impostor?, Astrophys.J. 760:93
- Davidson & Humphreys, The Great Eruption of Eta Carinae, Nature 486, E1.
- Mehner, Davidson, et al., Secular Changes in Eta Carinae's Wind 1998-2011, Astrophys.J. 751:73
- Humphreys et al., Photometric and Spectral Evolution of the 2008 Luminous Optical Transient in NGC 300, Astrophys.J. 743:118
- Mehner, Davidson, et al., Critical Differences and Clues in Eta Cars 2009 Event, Astrophys.J. 740:80
- Mehner, Davidson, and Ferland, NII 5668-5712, a New Class of Spectral Features in Eta Carinae, Astrophys.J. 737:70
- Artigau et al. Astron.J, Penetrating the Homunculus: Near Infrared Adaptive Optics Images of Eta Carinae, 141:202
- Humphreys et al., Mapping the Asymmetric Thick Disk III. Kinematics and Interaction with the Galactic Bar, Astron.J. 141:131
- Mehner, Davidson, et al., A Sea Change in Eta Carinae, Ap.J. Letters 717, L22-L25
- Tiffany et al., The Morphology of IRC+10420's Circumstellar Ejecta, Astron.J. 140, 339-349
- Martin, Davidson, Humphreys, & Mehner, Mid-cycle changes in Eta Carinae, Astron.J. 139, 2056-2065
- Mehner, Davidson, Ferland, & Humphreys, Astrophys, High-excitation Emission Lines Near Eta Carinae, and Its Likely Companion Star, J. 710, 729-742