Seppo Mattila - UTU Research Portal

Seppo Mattila

- Professor,
Tuorla Observatory (Department of Physics and Astronomy)

Department of Physics and Astronomy

sepmat@utu.fi

+358 29 450 4518

+358 50 412 5859

Vesilinnantie 5

Turku

ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7497-2994

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.

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:

Reynolds, Thomsen, Mattila et al. 2025, A&A: Infrared observations reveal the reprocessing envelope in the tidal disruption event AT 2019azh

Matilainen, Kankare, Mattila et al. 2025, A&A: Long-term evolution of the SN 2009ip-like transient SN 2016cvk

Mäntynen, Kankare, Mattila et al. 2025, A&A: The undetectable fraction of core-collapse supernovae in luminous infrared galaxies

Gutiérrez, Mattila et al. 2024, ApJ: CSS 161010: A Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient with Broad Blueshifted Hydrogen Lines

Nagao, Maeda, Mattila et al. 2024, A&A: Evidence for bipolar explosions in Type IIP supernovae

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

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

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.

Publications

9 of 38

Dynamic scheduling for SOXS instrument: environment, algorithms and development (2022)
- Proceedings of SPIE : the International Society for Optical Engineering
Proceedings of SPIE: Software and Cyberinfrastructure for Astronomy VII Asquini Laura, Landoni Marco, Young Dave, Marty Laurent, Smartt Stephen J., Campana Sergio, Claudi Riccardo, Schipani Pietro, Aliverti Matteo, Battaini Federico, Baruffolo Andrea, Ben-Ami Sagi, Bianco Andrea, Capasso Giulio, Cosentino Rosario, D'Alessio Francesco, d'Avanzo Paolo, Hershko Ofir, Kuncarayakti Hanindyo, Munari Matteo, Pignata Giuliano, Rubin Adam, Salvatore Scuderi, Vitali Fabrizio, Achrèn Jani, Araiza-Duràn Josè, Arcavi Iair, Brucalassi Anna, Bruch Rachel, Cappellaro Enrico, Colapietro Mirko, Della Valle Massimo, De Pascale Marco, Di Benedetto Rosario, D'Orsi Sergio, Gal-Yam Avishay, Genoni Matteo, Hernandez Díaz Marcos, Kotilainen Jari, Li Causi Gianluca, Mattila Seppo, Pariani Giorgio, Rappaport Micheal, Radhakrishnan Kalyan, Ricci Davide, Riva Marco, Salasnich Bernardo, Sanchez Ricardo Zanmar, Stritzinger Maximilian, Ventura Hector
(A4 Refereed article in a conference publication )
Energetic nuclear transients in luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (2022)
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
Reynolds TM, Mattila S, Efstathiou A, Kankare E, Kool E, Ryder S, Pena-Monino L, Perez-Torres MA
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
Euclid: Searching for pair-instability supernovae with the Deep Survey (2022)
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
Moriya T. J., Inserra C., Tanaka M., Cappellaro E., Della Valle M., Hook I., Kotak R., Longo G., Mannucci F., Mattila S., Tao C., Altieri B., Amara A., Auricchio N., Bonino D., Branchini E., Brescia M., Brinchmann J., Camera S., Capobianco V., Carbone C., Carretero J., Castellano M., Cavuoti S., Cimatti A., Cledassou R., Congedo G., Conselice C. J., Conversi L., Copin Y., Corcione L., Courbin F., Cropper M., Da Silva A., Degaudenzi H., Douspis M., Dubath F., Duncan C. A. J., Dupac X., Dusini S., Ealet A., Farrens S., Ferriol S., Frailis M., Franceschi E., Fumana M., Garilli B., Gillard W., Gillis B., Giocoli C., Grazian A., Grupp F., Haugan S. V. H., Holmes W., Hormuth F., Hornstrup A., Jahnke K., Kermiche S., Kiessling A., Kilbinger M., Kitching T., Kurki-Suonio H., Ligori S., Lilje P. B., Lloro I., Maiorano E., Mansutti O., Marggraf O., Markovic K., Marulli F., Massey R., McCracken H. J., Melchior M., Meneghetti M., Meylan G., Moresco M., Moscardini L., Munari E., Niemi S. M., Padilla C., Paltani S., Pasian F., Pedersen K., Pettorino V., Poncet M., Popa L., Raison F., Rhodes J., Riccio G., Rossetti E., Saglia R., Sartoris B., Schneider P., Secroun A., Seidel G., Sirignano C., Sirri G., Stanco L., Tallada-Crespí P., Taylor A. N., Tereno I., Toledo-Moreo R., Torradeflot F., Wang Y., Zamorani G., Zoubian J., Andreon S., Scottez V., Morris P. W.
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
From Assembly to the Complete Integration and Verification of the SOXS Common Path (2022)
- Proceedings of SPIE : the International Society for Optical Engineering
Proceedings of SPIE: Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IX Santhakumari KKR, Battaini F, Claudi R, Slemer A, Biondi F, Munari M, Sanchez RZ, Aliverti M, Oggioni L, Colapietro M, Ricci D, Lessio L, Dima M, Marafatto L, Farinato J, Campana S, Schipani P, D'Orsi S, Salasnich B, Baruffolo A, Ben-Amif S, Capasso G, Cosentino R, D'Alessio F, D'Avanzo P, Hershko O, Kuncarayakti H, Landoni M, Pignata G, Rubin A, Scuderi S, Vitali F, Young D, Achren J, Araiza-Duran JA, Arcavi I, Brucalassi A, Bruch R, Cappellaro E, Della Valle M, Di Benedetto R, Gal-Yam A, Genoni M, Hernandez M, Kotilainen J, Causi GL, Marty L, Mattila S, Rappaport M, Riva M, Smartt S, Stritzingerv M, Venturae H
(A4 Refereed article in a conference publication )
Late-time H/He-poor Circumstellar Interaction in the Type Ic Supernova SN 2021ocs: An Exposed Oxygen-Magnesium Layer and Extreme Stripping of the Progenitor (2022)
- Astrophysical Journal Letters
Kuncarayakti H., Maeda K., Dessart L., Nagao T, Fulton M, Gutiérrez C, Huber M.E., Young D.R., Kotak R, Mattila S., Anderson J.P., Ferrari L., Folatelli G., Gao H., Magnier E., Smith K.W., Srivastav S.
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
Progress on the simulation tools for the SOXS spectrograph: Exposure time calculator and End-to-End simulator (2022)
- Proceedings of SPIE : the International Society for Optical Engineering
Proceedings of SPIE: Modeling, Systems Engineering, and Project Management for Astronomy X Genoni M, Scaudo A, Li Causi G, Cabona L, Landoni M, Campana S, Schipani P, Claudi R, Aliverti M, Baruffolo A, Ben-Ami S, Biondi F, Capasso G, Cosentino R, D'Alessio F, D'Avanzoa P, Hershko O, Kuncarayakti H, Munari M, Pignata G, Rubin A, Scuderi S, Vitali F, Young D, Achren J, Araiza-Duran JA, Arcavir I, Battaini F, Brucalassi A, Bruche R, Cappellaro E, Colapietro M, Della Valle M, De Pascale M, Di Benedetto R, D'Orsi S, Gal-Yam A, Hernandez M, Kotilainen J, Marty L, Mattila S, Rappaport M, Ricci D, Riva M, Salasnich B, Smartt S, Sanchez RZ, Stritzinger M, Ventura H
(A4 Refereed article in a conference publication )
Progress on the SOXS NIR Spectrograph AIT (2022)
- Proceedings of SPIE : the International Society for Optical Engineering
Proceedings of SPIE: Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IX Vitali Fabrizio, Aliverti Matteo, D'Alessio Francesco, Genoni Matteo, Scuderi Salvatore, Munari Matteo, Oggioni Luca, Scaudo Andrea, Pariani Giorgio, Bellassai Giancarlo, Di Benedetto Rosario, Martinetti Eugenio, Miccichè Antonio, Nicotra Gaetano, Occhipinti Giovanni, Campana Sergio, Schipani Pietro, Claudi Riccardo, Capasso Giulio, Ricci Davide, Riva Marco, Sanchez R. Z., Araiza-Durán José Antonio, Arcavi Iair, Baruffolo Andrea, Battaini Federico, Ben-Ami Sagi, Brucalassi Anna, Bruch Rachel, Cappellaro Enrico, Colapietro Mirko, Cosentino Rosario, D'Avanzo Paolo, D'Orsi Sergio, Della Valle Massimo, Gal-Yam Avishay, Díaz Marcos Hernandez, Hershko Ofir, Kotilainen Jari, Kuncarayakti Hanindyo, Landoni Marco, Li Causi Gianluca, Marty Laurent, Mattila Seppo, Ventura Hector Pérez, Pignata Giuliano, Radhakrishnan Kalyan, Rappaport Michael, Rubin Adam, Salasnich Bernardo, Smartt Stephen, Stritzinger Maximilian, Young David
(A4 Refereed article in a conference publication )
Progress on the SOXS transients chaser for the ESO-NTT (2022)
- Proceedings of SPIE : the International Society for Optical Engineering
Proceedings of SPIE: Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IX Schipani P, Campana S, Claudi R, Aliverti M, Baruffolo A, Ben-Ami S, Capasso G, Cosentino R, D'Alessio F, D'Avanzo P, Hershko O, Kuncarayakti H, Landoni M, Munari M, Pignata G, Radhakrishnan K, Rubino A, Scuderi S, Vitali F, Young D, Achren J, Araiza-Duran JA, Arcavi I, Battaini F, Brucalassi A, Bruch R, Cappellaro E, Colapietro M, Della Valle M, Di Benedetto R, D'Orsi S, Gal-Yam A, Genoni M, Hernandez M, Kotilainen J, Causi GL, Lessio L, Marty L, Mattila S, Rappaport M, Ricci D, Riva M, Salasnich B, Savarese S, Smartt S, Sanchez RZ, Stritzinger M, Umbriaco G, Ventura H, Pasquini L, Scholler M, Kaufl HU, Accardo M, Mehrgan L, Pompei E, Saviane I
(A4 Refereed article in a conference publication )
SN 2020wnt: a slow-evolving carbon-rich superluminous supernova with no O II lines and a bumpy light curve (2022)
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gutierrez CP, Pastorello A, Bersten M, Benetti S, Orellana M, Fiore A, Karamehmetoglu E, Kravtsov T, Reguitti A, Reynolds TM, Valerin G, Mazzali P, Sullivan M, Cai YZ, Elias-Rosa N, Fraser M, Hsiao EY, Kankare E, Kotak R, Kuncarayakti H, Li Z, Mattila S, Mo J, Moran S, Ochner P, Shahbandeh M, Tomasella L, Wang X, Yan S, Zhang J, Zhang T, Stritzinger MD
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal)
SOXS AIT: a paradigm for system engineering of a medium class telescope instrument (2022)
- Proceedings of SPIE : the International Society for Optical Engineering
Proceedings of SPIE: Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IX Claudi Riccardo, Radhakrishnan Kalyan, Battaini Federico, Campana Sergio, Schipani Pietro, Aliverti Matteo, Araiza-Durán José Antonio, Baruffolo Andrea, Ben-Ami Sagi, Brucalassi Anna, Capasso Giulio, Colapietro Mirko, Cosentino Rosario, D'Alessio Francesco, D'Avanzo Paolo, Benedetto Rosario Di, D'Orsi Sergio, Genoni Matteo, Hershko Ofir, Kuncarayakti Hanindyo, Landoni Marco, Munari Matteo, Pignata Giuliano, Rappaport Michael, Ricci Davide, Rubin Adam, Scuderi Salvatore, Smartt Stephen, Vitali Fabrizio, Young David, Sanchez Ricardo Zanmar, Achrén Jani, Arcavi Iair, Bruch Rachel, Cappellaro Enrico, Della Valle Massimo, Gal-Yam Avishay, Li Causi Gianluca, Marafatto Luca, Mattila Seppo, Riva Marco, Salasnich Bernardo, Stritzinger Maximilian
(A4 Refereed article in a conference publication )