Talvikki Hovatta profile picture

Talvikki
Hovatta

Docent, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Senior Research Fellow, Finnish Centre for Astronomy with ESO

Contact

Vesilinnantie 5
20500
Turku

Areas of expertise

astrophysics
radio astronomy
active galaxies
relativistic jets

Biography

I started as a researcher in the Turku Collegium of Science and Medicine in September 2016. I obtained my PhD in 2009 from Helsinki University of Technology (now Aalto University) on the topic Radio variability of active galactic nuclei: analysis of long-term multifrequency data. I then worked as a postdoctoral research at Purdue University USA (2009-2011) and California Institute of Technology USA (2011-2014). I moved back to Finland in 2014 to work as Academy of Finland postdoctoral fellow at Aalto University, from where I moved to Tuorla Observatory when starting in the collegium researcher position. Since September 2018 I have been working as an Academy of Finland Research Fellow at the Finnish Centre for Astronomy with ESO.

Teaching

I teach in two Master level courses "Radio Astronomy" and "Active Galactic Nuclei". I also advice B.Sc., M.Sc., and Post graduate students.

Research

My main research interest is in active galaxies and their relativistic plasma jets. In my research, I use observations at all wavelengths from radio to very-high-energy gamma rays. At the moment I'm especially interested in magnetic fields in the plasma jets, and how they affect the jet formation and radiation. I use polarization observations in the radio and optical wavelengths to study the magnetic field structures in the jets. For example, I have studied the magnetic fields around jets using millimeter-wavelength observations from the ALMA observatory. I'm also involved in several international research projects where the jets of active galaxies are studied in multiple wavelengths. Recently, I expanded my research to multimessenger astrophysics by studying the connection between the radio emission of active galaxies and the arrival times of high-energy neutrinos.

Publications

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CAZ catalog and optical light curves of 7918 blazar-selected active galactic nuclei (2026)

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Kouch, Pouya M.; Lindfors, Elina; Hovatta, Talvikki; Liodakis, Ioannis; Koljonen, Karri I. I.; Paggi, Alessandro; Nilsson, Kari; Jormanainen, Jenni; Ramazani, Vandad Fallah; Kankkunen, Sofia; Wierda, Folkert; Wagner, Sarah M.; Graham, Matthew J.
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )

Compelling Evidence for a Harmonic in the Light Curve of the Supermassive Black Hole Binary Candidate PKS J1309+1154 (2026)

Astrophysical Journal Letters
Readhead, A. C. S.; Aller, M. F.; Sullivan, A. G.; Blandford, R. D.; Mróz, P.; De La Parra, P. V.; Molina, B.; Most, E. R.; Lister, M. L.; Synani, A.; Aller, H.; Begelman, M. C.; Ding, Y.; Graham, M. J.; Harrison, F.; Hovatta, T.; Liodakis, I.; Max-Moerbeck, W.; Pavlidou, V.; Pearson, T. J.; Ravi, V.; Reeves, R. A.; Surti, T.; Tassis, K.; Tremblay, S. E.; Zensus, J. A.
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )

IXPE observations of the blazar Mrk 501 in 2022: a multiwavelength view (2026)

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lisalda, L.; Gau, E.; Krawczynski, H.; Tavecchio, F.; Liodakis, I; Gokus, A.; Rodriguez Cavero, N.; Nowak, M.; Negro, M.; Middei, R.; Perri, M.; Puccetti, S.; Jorstad, S. G.; Agudo, I; Marscher, A. P.; Agis-Gonzalez, B.; Berdyugin, A., V; Bernardos, M., I; Blinov, D.; Bonnoli, G.; Borman, G. A.; Bourbah, I. G.; Casadio, C.; Casanova, V; Castro-Tirado, A. J.; Fernandez-Garcia, E.; Garcia-Comas, M.; Grishina, T. S.; Hakala, P.; Hovatta, T.; Hu, Y. D.; Husillos, C.; Escudero, J.; Jormanainen, J.; Jose Aceituno, F.; Kagitani, M.; Kiehlmann, S.; Kontopodis, E.; Kopatskaya, E. N.; Kouch, P. M.; Kravtsov, V; Lahteenmaki, A.; Larionova, E. G.; Lindfors, E.; Mandarakas, N.; Marchini, A.; Masiero, J. R.; Mawet, D.; Max-Moerbeck, W.; Morozova, D. A.; Myserlis, I; Nilsson, K.; Panopoulou, G., V; Pearson, T. J.; Readhead, A. C. S.; Reeves, R.; Romanopoulos, S.; Sakanoi, T.; Salome, Q.; Savchenko, S. S.; Skalidis, R.; Sota, A.; Syrjarinne, I; Tinyanont, S.; Tornikoski, M.; Troitskaya, Yu, V; Troitskiy, I. S.; Vasilyev, A. A.; Vervelaki, A.; Zhovtan, A., V; Antonelli, L. A.; Bachetti, M.; Baldini, L.; Baumgartner, W. H.; Bellazzini, R.; Bianchi, S.; Bongiorno, S. D.; Bonino, R.; Brez, A.; Bucciantini, N.; Capitanio, F.; Castellano, S.; Cavazzuti, E.; Chen, C.; Ciprini, S.; Costa, E.; De Rosa, A.; Del Monte, E.; Di Gesu, L.; Di Lalla, N.; Di Marco, A.; Donnarumma, I; Doroshenko, V; Dovciak, M.; Ehlert, S. R.; Enoto, T.; Evangelista, Y.; Fabiani, S.; Ferrazzoli, R.; Garcia, J. A.; Gunji, S.; Gurwell, Mark; Hayashida, K.; Heyl, J.; Iwakiri, W.; Kaaret, P.; Karas, V; Keating, Garrett; Kislat, F.; Kitaguchi, T.; Kolodziejczak, J. J.; La Monaca, F.; Latronico, L.; Maldera, S.; Manfreda, A.; Marin, F.; Marinucci, A.; Marshall, H. L.; Massaro, F.; Matt, G.; Mitsuishi, I; Mizuno, T.; Muleri, F.; Ng, C.; O'Dell, S. L.; Omodei, N.; Oppedisano, C.; Papitto, A.; Pavlov, G. G.; Peirson, A. L.; Pesce-Rollins, M.; Petrucci, P.; Pilia, M.; Possenti, A.; Poutanen, J.; Ramsey, B. D.; Rankin, J.; Rao, R.; Ratheesh, A.; Roberts, O. J.; Romani, R. W.; Sgro, C.; Slane, P.; Soffitta, P.; Spandre, G.; Swartz, D. A.; Tamagawa, T.; Taverna, R.; Tawara, Y.; Tennant, A. F.; Thomas, N. E.; Tombesi, F.; Trois, A.; Tsygankov, S. S.; Turolla, R.; Vink, J.; Weisskopf, M. C.; Wu, K.; Xie, F.; Zane, S.
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )

A Search for Supermassive Black Hole Binary Candidates in 46 yr Radio Light Curves of 83 Blazars (2026)

Astrophysical Journal
Molina, B.; Mróz, P.; De la Parra, P. V.; Readhead, A. C. S.; Surti, T.; Aller, M. F.; Scargle, J. D.; Reeves, R. A.; Aller, H.; Begelman, M. C.; Blandford, R. D.; Ding, Y.; Graham, M. J.; Harrison, F.; Hovatta, T.; Liodakis, I.; Lister, M. L.; Max-Moerbeck, W.; Pavlidou, V.; Pearson, T. J.; Ravi, V.; Sullivan, A. G.; Synani, A.; Tassis, K.; Tremblay, S. E.; Zensus, J. A.
(A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä )