Seppo Mattila profile picture
Seppo
Mattila
Professor, Tuorla Observatory

Contact

+358 29 450 4518
+358 50 412 5859
Vesilinnantie 5
20500
Turku

Links

ORCID

Biography

I received my PhD degree from Imperial College, Univ. of London in 2002. After this I held postdoctoral positions at Stockholm University, Helsinki University of Technology (now Aalto University) and Queen's University Belfast. I moved back to Finland in 2007 with an Academy of Finland Research Fellowship to work at Tuorla Observatory at University of Turku. Between 2012 and 2015 I worked at the Finnish Centre for Astronomy with ESO (FINCA) as a University Researcher. I was appointed as a Professor of Astronomy at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University of Turku in 2015. After 2010 I have made extended research visits to Stockholm University (18 months) and to University of Cambridge, UK (10 months). I have been the Finnish delegate in the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Council since 2020 and in the International Scientific Committee (CCI) of the Roque de los Muchachos and Teide observatories since 2019. Since 2022 I have also served as the President of the CCI. I am currently also the President of the Finnish National Committee for Astronomy and a member of the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) Council and the board of FINCA, and a vice member of the board of the Univ. of Turku Faculty of Science. In 2022 I was invited as a member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters.

Teaching

I have taught several courses in astronomy, astrophysics and signal and image processing at the Univ. of Turku. In  particular, I initiated two new observational astronomy courses currently offered at national level for students from Turku, Helsinki, Oulu and the Aalto University. These courses offer hands-on experience on the use of the Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) remotely from Univ. of Turku (Observational Techniques Using the Nordic Optical Telescope) and on the science exploitation of data from the European Southern Observatory (ESO; Data Processing Techniques for Astronomy with ESO Instrumentation). Currently I teach also the BSc course on observational astronomy and the MSc courses Spectroscopic Diagnostics in Astrophysics and Signal and Image Processing. In my teaching I always try to make use of examples from the latest research in order to offer a motivating learning experience for the students.

Research

​​​​​​My main research interests focus on observational work on extragalactic astrophysical transients, including supernovae, tidal disruption events, and kilonovae. For more details on my research and information on the research group please see https://sites.utu.fi/sne/. For a complete list of my refereed journal papers see ADS (in chronological order) or ADS (ordered by number of citations).

Selected recent papers:

Kool et al. (incl. Mattila) 2023, Nature: A radio-detected type Ia supernova with helium-rich circumstellar material

Pasham et al. (incl. Mattila) 2023, Nature Astronomy: The Birth of a Relativistic Jet Following the Disruption of a Star by a Cosmological Black Hole

Nagao, Mattila et al. 2023, A&A: Spectropolarimetry of Type II supernovae. I. Sample, observational data, and interstellar polarization

Reynolds, Mattila et al. 2022, A&A: Energetic nuclear transients in luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies

Perez-Torres, Mattila et al. 2021, The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review: Star formation and nuclear activity in luminous infrared galaxies: An infrared through radio review

Kool, Reynolds, Mattila et al. 2020, MNRAS: AT2017gbl: a dust obscured TDE candidate in a luminous infrared galaxy

Ackley et al. (incl. Mattila) 2020, A&A: Observational constraints on the optical and near-infrared emission from the neutron star-black hole binary merger S190814bv

Reynolds, Fraser, Mattila et al. 2020, MNRAS: SN 2016gsd: An unusually luminous and linear type II supernova with high velocities

Mattila et al. 2018, Science: A dust-enshrouded tidal disruption event with a resolved radio jet in a galaxy merger​

Smartt et al. (incl. Mattila) 2017, Nature: A kilonova as the electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational-wave source​

Abbott et al. (imcl. Mattila) 2017, ApJ: Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger

Kankare, Kotak, Mattila et al. 2017, Nature Astronomy: A population of highly energetic transient events in the centres of active galaxies

Kangas, Blagorodnova, Mattila et al. 2017, MNRAS: Gaia 16apd - a link between fast- and slowly-declining superluminous supernovae

Kangas, Portinari, Mattila et al. 2017, A&A: Core-collapse supernova progenitor constraints using the spatial distribution of massive stars in local galaxies

Publications

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Development status of the SOXS spectrograph for the ESO-NTT telescope (2020)

SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, Proceedings of SPIE : the International Society for Optical Engineering
P. Schipani, S. Campana, R. Claudi, M. Aliverti, A. Baruffolo, S. Ben-Ami, F. Biondi, G. Capasso, R. Cosentino, F. D'Alessio, P. D'Avanzo, O. Hershko, H. Kuncarayakti, M. Landoni, M. Munari, G. Pignata, A. Rubin, S. Scuderi, F. Vitali, D. Young, J. Achrén, J. A. Araiza-Duran, I. Arcavi, A. Brucalassi, R. Bruch, E. Cappellaro, M. Colapietro, M. Della Valle, M. De Pascale, R. Di Benedetto, S. D'Orsi, A. Gal-Yam, M. Genoni, M. Hernandez, J. Kotilainen, G. Li Causi, S. Mattila, K. Radhakrishnan, M. Rappaport, D. Ricci, M. Riva, Bernardo. Salasnich, S. Savarese, S. Smartt, R. Zanmar Sanchez, M. Stritzinger, H. Ventura, L. Pasquini, M. Schöller, H.-U. Kaüfl, M. Accardo, L. Mehrgan, E. Pompei
(Vertaisarvioitu artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa (A4))

Machine learning for transient recognition in difference imaging with minimum sampling effort (2020)

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Mong YL, Ackley K, Galloway DK, Killestein T, Lyman J, Steeghs D, Dhillon V, O'Brien PT, Ramsay G, Poshyachinda S, Kotak R, Nuttall L, Palle E, Pollacco D, Thrane E, Dyer MJ, Ulaczyk K, Cutter R, McCormac J, Chote P, Levan AJ, Marsh T, Stanway E, Gompertz B, Wiersema K, Chrimes A, Obradovic A, Mullaney J, Daw E, Littlefair S, Maund J, Makrygianni L, Burhanudin U, Starling RLC, Eyles-Ferris RAJ, Tooke S, Duffy C, Aukkaravittayapun S, Sawangwit U, Awiphan S, Mkrtichian D, Irawati P, Mattila S, Heikkila T, Breton R, Kennedy M, Sanchez DM, Rol E
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

GRB 200306C: GOTO upper limits (2020)

Ackley K., Wiersema K., Mong Y. -L., Galloway D. K., Steeghs D., Dhillon V., O'Brien P., Ramsay G., Pollacco D., Thrane E., Poshyachinda S., Kotak R., Nuttall L., Pallé E., Ulaczyk K., Lyman J., Cutter R., Levan A., Marsh T., West R., Stanway E., Gompertz B., Killestein T., Casey A., Brown M., Muller B., Dyer M., Mullaney J., Daw E., Littlefair S., Maund J., Makrygianni L., Burhanudin U., Starling R., Eyles R., Tooke S., Aukkaravittayapun S., Sawangwit U., Awiphan S., Mkrtichian D., Irawati P., Mattila S., Heikkilä T., Rol E., GOTO Collaboration
(Artikkeli ammatillisessa kokoomateoksessa (D2))

SOXS: effects on optical performances due to gravity flexures, temperature variations, and subsystems alignment (2020)

SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, Proceedings of SPIE : the International Society for Optical Engineering
Ricardo Zanmar Sanchez, Matteo Aliverti, Matteo Munari, Sergio Campana, Riccardo Claudi, Pietro Schipani, Andrea Baruffolo, Sagi Ben-Ami, Federico Biondi, Giulio Capasso, Rosario Cosentino, Francesco D'Alessio, Paolo D'Avanzo, Ofir Hershko, Hanindyo Kuncarayakti, Marco Landoni, Giuliano Pignata, Adam Rubin, Salvatore Scuderi, Fabrizio Vitali, David Young, Jani Achrén, José Antonio Araiza-Duran, Iair Arcavi, Anna Brucalassi, Rachel Bruch, Enrico Cappellaro, Mirko Colapietro, Massimo Della Valle, Marco De Pascale, Rosario Di Benedetto, Sergio D'Orsi, Avishay Gal-Yam, Matteo Genoni, Marcos Hernandez, Jari Kotilainen, Gianluca Li Causi, Seppo Mattila, Michael Rappaport, Kalyan Radhakrishnan, Davide Ricci, Marco Riva, Bernardo Salasnich, Stephen Smartt, Maximilian Stritzinger, Hector Ventura
(Vertaisarvioitu artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa (A4))

SN 2016gsd: an unusually luminous and linear Type II supernova with high velocities (2020)

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Reynolds TM, Fraser M, Mattila S, Ergon M, Lundqvist P, Dessart L, Dong SB, Elias-Rosa N, Galbany L, Gutierrez CP, Kangas T, Kankare E, Kotak R, Kuncarayakti H, Pastorello A, Rodriguez O, Smartt SJ, Stritzinger M, Tomasella L, Chen P, Harmanen J, Hozzeinzadeh G, Howell DA, Inserra C, Nicholl M, Nielsen M, Smith K, Somero A, Tronsgaard R, Young DR
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

Final design and development status of the acquisition and guiding system for SOXS (2020)

SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, Proceedings of SPIE : the International Society for Optical Engineering
Anna Brucalassi, Giuliano Pignata, José Antonio Araiza-Duran, Sergio Campana, Riccardo Claudi, Pietro Schipani, Matteo Aliverti, Andrea Baruffolo, Sagi Ben-Ami, Federico Biondi, Giulio Capasso, Mirko Colapietro, Rosario Cosentino, Francesco D'Alessio, Paolo D'Avanzo, Matteo Genoni, Ofir Hershko, Hanindyo Kuncarayakti, Marco Landoni, Matteo Munari, Kalian Radhakrishnan, Michael Rappaport, Davide Ricci, Adam Rubin, Salvatore Scuderi, Fabrizio Vitali, Ricardo Zánmar Sánchez, David Young, Jani Achrén, Iair Arcavi, Rachel Bruch, Enrico Cappellaro, Massimo Della Valle, Marco De Pascale, Rosario Di Benedetto, Sergio D'Orsi, Avishay Gal-Yam, Marcos Hernandez , Jari Kotilainen, Gianluca Li Causi, Seppo Mattila, Marco Riva, Bernardo Salasnich, Stephen Smartt, Maximilian Stritzinger, Hector Ventura
(Vertaisarvioitu artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa (A4))

SOXS end-to-end simulator: Development and applications for pipeline design (2020)

SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, Proceedings of SPIE : the International Society for Optical Engineering
Zanmar Sanchez R., Stritzinger M., Ventura H., Rappaport M., Ricci D., Salasnich B., Smartt S., Landoni M., Genoni M., Pariani G., Li Causi G., Campana S., Alierti M., Claudi R., Schipani P., D'Avanzo P., Riva M., Munari M., Rubin A., Capasso G., Cosentino R., Baruffolo A., Biondi F., Kuncarayakti H., Pignata G., D'Alessio F., Hershko O., Ben-Ami S., Vitali F., Scuderi S., Radhakrishnan K., Araiza-Duran J.A., Achrén J., Brucalass A., Young D., Colapietro M., Cappellaro E., Bruch R., Arcavi I., D'Orsi S., Di Benedetto R., De Pascale M., Della Valle M., Mattila S., Kotilainen J., Hernandez Diaz M., Gal-Yam A.
(Vertaisarvioitu artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa (A4))

Progress on the UV-VIS arm of SOXS (2020)

SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, Proceedings of SPIE : the International Society for Optical Engineering
Adam Rubin, Sagi Ben-Ami, Ofir Hershko, Michael Rappaport, Avishay Gal-Yam, Rachel Bruch, Sergio Campana, Riccardo Claudi, Pietro Schipani, Matteo Aliverti, Andrea Baruffolo, Federico Biondi, Giulio Capasso, Rosario Cosentino, Francesco D'Alessio, Paolo D'Avanzo, Hanindyo Kuncarayakti, Marco Landoni, Matteo Munari, Giuliano Pignata, Salvatore Scuderi, Fabrizio Vitali, David Young, Jani Achrén, José Antonio Araiza-Duran, Iair Arcavi, Anna Brucalassi, Enrico Cappellaro, Mirko Colapietro, Massimo Della Valle, Marco De Pascale, Rosario Di Benedetto, Sergio D'Orsi, Thomas Flügel-Paul, Matteo Genoni, Marcos Hernandez, Jari Kotilainen, Gianluca Li Causi, Seppo Mattila, Kalyan Radhakrishnan, Davide Ricci, Marco Riva, Susann Sadlowski, Bernardo Salasnich, Stephen Smartt, Ricardo Zanmar Sanchez, Maximilian Stritzinger, Hector Ventura
(Vertaisarvioitu artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa (A4))

Searching for electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational-wave merger events with the prototype Gravitational-Wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO-4) (2020)

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gompertz BP, Cutter R, Steeghs D, Galloway DK, Lyman J, Ulaczyk K, Dyer MJ, Ackley K, Dhillon VS, O'Brien PT, Ramsay G, Poshyachinda S, Kotak R, Nuttall L, Breton RP, Palle E, Pollacco D, Thrane E, Aukkaravittayapun S, Awiphan S, Brown MJI, Burhanudin U, Chote P, Chrimes AA, Daw E, Duffy C, Eyles-Ferris RAJ, Heikkila T, Irawati P, Kennedy MR, Killestein T, Levan AJ, Littlefair S, Makrygianni L, Marsh T, Sanchez DM, Mattila S, Maund J, McCormac J, Mkrtichian D, Mong YL, Mullaney J, Muller B, Obradovic A, Rol E, Sawangwit U, Stanway ER, Starling RLC, Strom PA, Tooke S, West R, Wiersema K
(Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1))

LIGO/Virgo S200225q: No notable candidates in GOTO imaging (2020)

Ackley K, Mong Y-L, Galloway DK, Steeghs D, Dhillon V, O'Brien P, Ramsay G, Pollacco D, Thrane E, Poshyachinda S, Kotak R, Nuttall L, Pallé E, Ulaczyk K, Lyman J, Cutter R, Levan A, Marsh T, West R, Stanway E, Gompertz B, Wiersema K, Killestein T, Casey A, Brown M, Muller B, Dyer M, Mullaney J, Daw E, Littlefair S, Maund J, Makrygianni L, Burhanudin U, Starling R, Eyles R, Tooke S, Aukkaravittayapun S, Sawangwit U, Awiphan S, Mkrtichian D, Irawati P, Mattila S, Heikkilä T, Rol E; GOTO Collaboration
(Artikkeli ammatillisessa kokoomateoksessa (D2))
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