József Kovács

senior research fellow

Biography:

József Kovács is a senior research fellow at the Gothard Astrophysical Observatory and Multidisciplinary Research Centre of Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE GAO MKK, Szombathely).

His scientific interests are related to astronomical spectroscopy. Previously, he worked on the spectroscopy of bright emission line stars, and later on the spectroscopy of Cefeid-type variable stars, and in the last few years he has been interested in the production of synthetic stellar spectra and their use in modelling. In the early 2010s, he played a major role in the introduction of high-resolution astronomical spectroscopy in Hungary. He has also been involved in the preservation and dissemination of the scientific and technical heritage of Jenő Gothard, who founded the Observatory in 1881.

He carries out extensive astronomical educational activities and has given numerous astronomical lectures, occasionally to hundreds of people. He is the translator of highly successful English-language educational books, the editor-in-chief of the csillagaszat.hu news portal, and vice-president of the Hungarian Astronomical Society (MCSE).

He has been actively involved in the organization and management of astronomy competitions for high school students since 2012, and since 2016 he has been one of the trainers and leaders of the Hungarian teams competing in the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA). In 2019, as the Secretary of the Academic Committee of the 13th IOAA in Keszthely, Hungary, he was in charge of the professional and technical coordination of the whole process.

Links to associated scientific database profiles:

• Publications in MTMT
• Publications in ORCID
• User profile at doktori.hu

Selected publications of recent years:

1. Mészáros, Szabolcs; Bohlin, Ralph; Allende Prieto, Carlos; Cseh, Borbála; Kovács, József; Fleming, Scott W.; Dencs, Zoltán; Deustua, Susana; Gordon, Karl D.; Hubeny, Ivan; Mező, György; Truszek, Márton; "The updated BOSZ synthetic stellar spectral library", Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 688, id.A197, 11 pp.
2. Dencs, Z.; Derekas, A.; Mitnyan, T.; Andersen, M. F.; Cseh, B.; Grundahl, F.; Hegedűs, V.; Kovács, J.; Kriskovics, L.; Palle, P. L.; Pál, A.; Szigeti, L.; Mészáros, Sz.; "Atmospheric Parameters and Abundances of Cool Red Giant Stars", Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Volume 136, Issue 5, id.054202, 16 pp.
3. Cseh, B.; Csörnyei, G.; Szabados, L.; Csák, B.; Kovács, J.; Kriskovics, L.; Pál, A.; "Orbit determination for the binary Cepheid V1344 Aql", Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 680, id.A89, 5 pp. (2023)
4. Kálmán, Sz.; Derekas, A.; Csizmadia, Sz.; Szabó, Gy. M.; Hegedűs, V.; Smith, A. M. S.; Kovács, J.; Ziegler, C.; Pál, A.; Szabó, R.; Parviainen, H.; Murgas, F.; "Discovery of a substellar companion in the TESS light curve of the δ Scuti/γ Doradus hybrid pulsator HD 31221", Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 673, id.L14, 12 pp. (2023)
5. Garai, Z.; Pribulla, T.; Kovács, J.; Szabó, Gy M.; Claret, A.; Komžík, R.; Kundra, E.; "Rapidly rotating stars and their transiting planets: KELT-17b, KELT-19Ab, and KELT-21b in the CHEOPS and TESS era", Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 513, Issue 2, pp.2822-2840 (2022)