Precursor large optical surveys of the transient sky: The Zwicky Transient Facility

Online: Zoom - subscription required

The Universe began only with hydrogen and helium. It is cosmic explosions which build up the periodic table.  Astronomers have now identified several classes of cosmic explosions of which supernovae constitute the largest group.  The Palomar Transient Factory was an innovative 2-telescope experiment, and its successor, the Zwicky Transient Factory (ZTF), is a high tech [...]

Gamma-ray Burst Observations with the Future SVOM Mission and Synergies with the CTAO

Online: Zoom - subscription required

SVOM is a Chinese-French space mission to be launched mid-2023 and devoted to the study of the high-energy transient sky. The core program of the mission will focus on gamma-ray burst studies. SVOM combines instruments with large field of view in gamma-rays (ECLAIRs and GRM), to cover the gamma-ray burst prompt emission (trigger, localisation, light [...]

ACES – The ALMA Central Molecular Zone Exploration Survey

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The extreme environment and relative proximity to Earth make the centre of our Galaxy a unique astrophysical laboratory. The gas properties, radiation field, cosmic ray ionisation rate, etc., are more similar to those in the centre of other galaxies, starbursts and high-z galaxies than the Solar neighbourhood. It is the only extreme environment in which [...]

Present and Future Large Radio Surveys of the Extreme Universe

Online: Zoom - subscription required

Transient radio emission is a fundamental tracer and physical probe of the most extreme and transient events in the universe.   In this talk, Rob Fender will discuss a number of recent developments with existing radio telescopes, including: the ThunderKAT image-plane transients programme on MeerKAT, the first citizen-science project to search for commensal radio transients, [...]

Pulsar Timing: Experience from Fermi LAT

Online: Zoom - subscription required

Pulsars are the most common Galactic GeV gamma-ray sources. Their spectra are hard, but cut off sharply in the energy range of the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi satellite. Cherenkov telescopes have detected pulsations from 4 of the brightest of the nearly 300 LAT pulsars. CTAO's improved sensitivity may triple the number of [...]