A pilot project has been proceeded to map $1\, \textrm{deg}^2$ on the Galactic plane for radio recombination lines (RRLs) using the Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST). The motivation is to verify the techniques and reliabilities for a large-scale Galactic plane RRL survey with FAST aiming to investigate the ionised environment in the Galaxy. The data shows that the bandpass of the FAST 19 beam L-band is severely affected by radio frequency interferences and standing wave ripples, which can hardly be corrected by traditional low order polynomials. In this paper, we investigate a series of penalised least square (PLS) based baseline correction methods for radio astronomical spectra that usually contain weak signals with high level of noise. Three promising penalised least squares based methods, AsLS, arPLS, and asPLS are evaluated. Adopting their advantages, a modified method named rrlPLS is developed to optimise the baseline fitting to our RRL spectra. To check their effectiveness, the four methods are tested by simulations and further verified using observed data sets. It turns out that the rrlPLS method, with optimised parameter $\lambda=2\times10^8$ , reveals the most sensitive and reliable emission features in the RRL map. By injecting artificial line profiles into the real data cube, a further evaluation of profile distortion is conducted for rrlPLS. Comparing to simulated signals, the processed lines with low signal-to-noise ratio are less affected, of which the uncertainties are mainly caused by the rms noise. The rrlPLS method will be applied for baseline correction in future data processing pipeline of FAST RRL survey. Configured with proper parameters, the rrlPLS technique verified in this work may also be used for other spectroscopy projects.

We present analysis of the far ultraviolet (FUV) emission of sources in the central region of the Coma cluster ( $z=0.023$ ) using the data taken by the UVIT aboard the multi-wavelength satellite mission AstroSat. We find a good correlation between the UVIT FUV flux and the fluxes in both wavebands of the Galex mission, for the common sources. We detect stars and galaxies, amongst which the brightest ( $r \lesssim 17$ mag) galaxies in the field of view are mostly members of the Coma cluster. We also detect three quasars ( $z = 0.38, 0.51, 2.31$ ), one of which is likely the farthest object observed by the UVIT so far. In almost all the optical and UV colour-colour and colour-magnitude planes explored in this work, the Coma galaxies, other galaxies and bright stars could be separately identified, but the fainter stars and quasars often coincide with the faint galaxies. We have also investigated galaxies with unusual FUV morphology which are likely to be galaxies experiencing ram-pressure stripping in the cluster. Amongst others, two confirmed cluster members which were not investigated in the literature earlier, have been found to show unusual FUV emission. All the distorted sources are likely to have fallen into the cluster recently, and hence have not virialised yet. A subset of our data have optical spectroscopic information available from the archives. For these sources ( ${\sim} 10\%$ of the sample), we find that 17 galaxies identify as star-forming, 18 as composite and 13 as host galaxies for active galactic nuclei, respectively on the emission-line diagnostic diagram.

It is argued that the new morphological and spectral information gleaned from the recently published LoFAR Two metre Sky Survey data release 2 (LoTSS-2 at 144 MHz) observations of the cluster Abell 980 (A980), in combination with its existing GMRT and VLA observations at higher frequencies, provide the much-needed evidence to strengthen the proposal that the cluster’s radio emission comes mainly from two double radio sources, both produced by the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) in two major episodes of jet activity. The two radio lobes left from the previous activity have become diffuse and developed an ultra-steep radio spectrum while rising buoyantly through the confining hot intra-cluster medium (ICM) and, concomitantly, the host galaxy has drifted to the cluster centre and entered a new active phase manifested by a coinciding younger double radio source. The new observational results and arguments presented here bolster the case that the old and young double radio sources in A980 conjointly represent a ‘double-double’ radio galaxy whose two lobe pairs have lost colinearity due to the (lateral) drift of their parent galaxy, making this system by far the most plausible case of a ‘Detached-Double-Double Radio Galaxy’ (dDDRG).

The redshifted cosmological 21-cm signal emitted by neutral hydrogen during the first billion years of the universe is much fainter relative to other galactic and extragalactic radio emissions, posing a great challenge towards detection of the signal. Therefore, precise instrumental calibration is a vital prerequisite for the success of radio interferometers such as the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), which aim for a 21-cm detection. Over the previous years, novel calibration techniques targeting the power spectrum paradigm of EoR science have been actively researched and where possible implemented. Some of these improvements, for the MWA, include the accuracy of sky models used in calibration and the treatment of ionospheric effects, both of which introduce unwanted contamination to the EoR window. Despite sophisticated non-traditional calibration algorithms being continuously developed over the years to incorporate these methods, the large datasets needed for EoR measurements require high computational costs, leading to trade-offs that impede making use of these new tools to maximum benefit. Using recently acquired computation resources for the MWA, we test the full capabilities of the state-of-the-art calibration techniques available for the MWA EoR project, with a focus on both direction-dependent and direction-independent calibration. Specifically, we investigate improvements that can be made in the vital calibration stages of sky modelling, ionospheric correction, and compact source foreground subtraction as applied in the hybrid foreground mitigation approach (one that combines both foreground subtraction and avoidance). Additionally, we investigate a method of ionospheric correction using interpolated ionospheric phase screens and assess its performance in the power spectrum space. Overall, we identify a refined RTS calibration configuration that leads to an at least 2 factor reduction of the EoR window power contamination at the $0.1 \; \textrm{hMpc}^{-1}$ scale. The improvement marks a step further towards detecting the 21-cm signal using the MWA and the forthcoming SKA low telescope.

We examine the redshifts of a comprehensive set of published Type Ia supernovae, and provide a combined, improved catalogue with updated redshifts. We improve on the original catalogues by using the most up-to-date heliocentric redshift data available; ensuring all redshifts have uncertainty estimates; using the exact formulae to convert heliocentric redshifts into the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) frame; and utilising an improved peculiar velocity model that calculates local motions in redshift-space and more realistically accounts for the external bulk flow at high-redshifts. We review 2607 supernova redshifts; 2285 are from unique supernovae and 322 are from repeat-observations of the same supernova. In total, we updated 990 unique heliocentric redshifts, and found 5 cases of missing or incorrect heliocentric corrections, 44 incorrect or missing supernova coordinates, 230 missing heliocentric or CMB frame redshifts, and 1200 missing redshift uncertainties. The absolute corrections range between $10^{-8} \leq \Delta z \leq 0.038$ , and RMS $(\Delta z) \sim 3{\times 10^{-3}}$ . The sign of the correction was essentially random, so the mean and median corrections are small: $4{\times 10^{-4}}$ and $4{\times 10^{-6}}$ respectively. We examine the impact of these improvements for $H_0$ and the dark energy equation of state w and find that the cosmological results change by $\Delta H_0 = -0.12\,\mathrm{km\,s}^{-1}\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$ and $\Delta w = 0.003$ , both significantly smaller than previously reported uncertainties for $H_0$ of 1.0 $\mathrm{km\,s}^{-1}\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$ and w of 0.04 respectively.

We present the first observational study of pulsars performed with the second-generation precursor stations to the low-frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA-Low): the Aperture Array Verification System 2 (AAVS2) and the Engineering Development Array 2 (EDA2). Using the SKA-Low stations, we have observed 100 southern-sky pulsars between 70–350 MHz, including follow-up observations at multiple frequencies for a selected sample of bright pulsars. These observations have yielded detections of 22 pulsars, including the lowest-frequency detections ever published for 6 pulsars, despite the modest sensitivity of initial system where the recording bandwidth is limited to ${\sim}{1}\,\mathrm{MHz}$ . By comparing simultaneous flux density measurements obtained with the SKA-Low stations and performing rigorous electromagnetic simulations, we verify the accuracy of the SKA-Low sensitivity simulation code presented in Sokolowski (2022, PASA, 39, e015). Furthermore, we perform model fits to the radio spectra of the detected pulsars using the method developed by Jankowski (2018, MNRAS, 473, 4436), including nine pulsars which were not fitted in the original work. We robustly classify the spectra into five morphological classes and find that all but one pulsar exhibit deviations from simple power-law behaviour. These findings suggest that pulsars with well-determined spectra are more likely to show spectral flattening or turnover than average. Our work demonstrates how SKA-Low stations can be meaningfully used for scientifically useful measurements and analysis of pulsar radio spectra, which are important inputs for informing pulsar surveys and science planned with the SKA-Low.

As TeV gamma-ray astronomy progresses into the era of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), there is a desire for the capacity to instantaneously follow up on transient phenomena and continuously monitor gamma-ray flux at energies above $10^{12}\,\mathrm{eV}$ . To this end, a worldwide network of Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes (IACTs) is required to provide triggers for CTA observations and complementary continuous monitoring. An IACT array sited in Australia would contribute significant coverage of the Southern Hemisphere sky. Here, we investigate the suitability of a small IACT array and how different design factors influence its performance. Monte Carlo simulations were produced based on the Small-Sized Telescope (SST) and Medium-Sized Telescope (MST) designs from CTA. Angular resolution improved with larger baseline distances up to 277 m between telescopes, and energy thresholds were lower at 1 000 m altitude than at 0 m. The ${\sim} 300\,\mathrm{GeV}$ energy threshold of MSTs proved more suitable for observing transients than the ${\sim}1.2\,\mathrm{TeV}$ threshold of SSTs. An array of four MSTs at 1 000 m was estimated to give a 5.7 $\sigma$ detection of an RS Ophiuchi-like nova eruption from a 4-h observation. We conclude that an array of four MST-class IACTs at an Australian site would ideally complement the capabilities of CTA.

We report the discovery of a bright ( $g = 14.5$ mag (AB), $K = 11.9$ mag (Vega)) quasar at redshift $z=0.83$ — the optically brightest (unbeamed) quasar at $z>0.4$ . SMSS J114447.77-430859.3, at a Galactic latitude of $b=+18.1^{\circ}$ , was identified by its optical colours from the SkyMapper Southern Survey (SMSS) during a search for symbiotic binary stars. Optical and near-infrared spectroscopy reveals broad Mg ii, H $\unicode{x03B2}$ , H $\unicode{x03B1}$ , and Pa $\unicode{x03B2}$ emission lines, from which we measure a black hole mass of $\log_{10}\! (M_{\mathrm{BH}}/\mathrm{M}_{\odot}) = 9.4 \pm 0.5$ . With its high luminosity, $L_{\mathrm{bol}} = (4.7\pm1.0)\times10^{47}\,\mathrm{erg\,s}^{-1}$ or $M_{i}(z=2) = -29.74$ mag (AB), we estimate an Eddington ratio of $\approx1.4$ . As the most luminous quasar known over the last ${\sim}$ 9 Gyr of cosmic history, having a luminosity $8\times$ greater than 3C 273, the source offers a range of potential follow-up opportunities.

Pulsars are rapidly spinning highly magnetised neutron stars. Their spin period is observed to decrease with time. An early analytical model for this process was the vacuum retarded dipole (VRD) by Deutsch (1955, AnAp, 18). This model assumes an idealised star and it finds that the rotational energy is radiated away by the electromagnetic fields. This model has been superseded by more realistic numerical simulations that account for the non-vacuum like surroundings of the neutron star. However, the VRD still provides a reasonable approximation and is a useful limiting case that can provide some qualitative understanding. We provide detailed derivations of the spin down and related electromagnetic field equations of the VRD solution. We also correct typographical errors in the general field equations and boundary conditions used by Deutsch (1955, AnAp, 18).

We have studied several neutron star high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) with super-giant (SG) companions using a wind-fed binary model associated with the magnetic field. By using the concept of torque balance, the magnetic field parameter determines the mass accretion rate. This would help us to consider the relationship between wind velocity and mass-loss rate. These parameters significantly improve our understanding of the accretion mechanism. The wind velocity is critical in determining the X-ray features. This can be used to identify the ejection process and the stochastic variations in their accretion regimes. However, even in systems with a long orbital period, an accretion disk can be created when the wind velocity is slow. This will allow the HMXB of both types, SG and Be, to be better characterised by deriving accurate properties from these binaries. In addition, we have performed segmentation in the parameter space of donors intended for several SG-HMXB listed in our sample set. The parameter space can be categorised into five regimes, depending on the possibility of disk formation associated with accretion from the stellar wind. This can give a quantitative clarification of the observed variability and the properties of these objects. For most of the systems, we show that the derived system parameters are consistent with the assumption that the system is emitting X-rays through direct accretion. However, there are some sources (LMC X-4, Cen X-3 and OAO1657-415) that are not in the direct accretion regime, although they share similar donor parameters. This may indicate that these systems are transitioning from a normal wind accretion phase to partial RLOF regimes.

The discovery of new clear windows in the Galactic plane using the VVV near-IR extinction maps allows the study of the structure of the Milky Way (MW) disk. The ultimate goal of this work is to map the spiral arms in the far side of the MW, which is a relatively unexplored region of our Galaxy, using red clump (RC) giants as distance indicators. We search for near-IR clear windows located at low Galactic latitudes ( $|b|< 1$ deg) in the MW disk using the VVV near-IR extinction maps. We have identified two new windows named VVV WIN 1607–5258 and VVV WIN 1475–5877, respectively, that complement the previously known window VVV WIN 1713–3939. We analyse the distribution of RC stars in these three clear near-IR windows and measure their number density along the line of sight. This allows us to find overdensities in the distribution and measure their distances along the line of sight. We then use the VVV proper motions in order to measure the kinematics of the RC stars at different distances. We find enhancements in the distance distribution of RC giants in all the studied windows, interpreting them as the presence of spiral arms in the MW disk. These structures are absent in the current models of synthetic population for the same MW lines of sight. We were able to trace the end of the Galactic bar, the Norma arm, as well as the Scutum–Centaurus arm in the far disk. Using the VVV proper motions, we measure the kinematics for these Galactic features, confirming that they share the bulk rotation of the Galactic disk.

We present a study of scintillation induced by the mid-latitude ionosphere. By implementing methods currently used in Interplanetary Scintillation studies to measure amplitude scintillation at low frequencies, we have proven it is possible to use the Murchison Widefield Array to study ionospheric scintillation in the weak regime, which is sensitive to structures on scales ${\sim}300$ m at our observing frequency of 154 MHz, where the phase variance on this scale was $0.06\, \textrm{rad}^{2}$ in the most extreme case observed. Analysing over 1000 individual 2-min observations, we compared the ionospheric phase variance with that inferred with previous measurements of refractive shifts, which are most sensitive to scales almost an order of magnitude larger. The two measurements were found to be highly correlated (Pearson correlation coefficient 0.71). We observed that for an active ionosphere, the relationship between these two metrics is in line with what would be expected if the ionosphere’s structure is described by Kolmogorov turbulence between the relevant scales of 300 and 2000 m. In the most extreme ionospheric conditions, the refractive shifts were sometimes found to underestimate the small-scale variance by a factor of four or more, and it is these ionospheric conditions that could have significant effects on radio astronomy observations.

We describe a new low-frequency wideband radio survey of the southern sky. Observations covering 72–231 MHz and Declinations south of $+30^\circ$ have been performed with the Murchison Widefield Array “extended” Phase II configuration over 2018–2020 and will be processed to form data products including continuum and polarisation images and mosaics, multi-frequency catalogues, transient search data, and ionospheric measurements. From a pilot field described in this work, we publish an initial data release covering 1,447 $\mathrm{deg}^2$ over $4\,\mathrm{h}\leq \mathrm{RA}\leq 13\,\mathrm{h}$ , $-32.7^\circ \leq \mathrm{Dec} \leq -20.7^\circ$ . We process twenty frequency bands sampling 72–231 MHz, with a resolution of 2′–45′′, and produce a wideband source-finding image across 170–231 MHz with a root mean square noise of $1.27\pm0.15\,\mathrm{mJy\,beam}^{-1}$ . Source-finding yields 78,967 components, of which 71,320 are fitted spectrally. The catalogue has a completeness of 98% at ${{\sim}}50\,\mathrm{mJy}$ , and a reliability of 98.2% at $5\sigma$ rising to 99.7% at $7\sigma$ . A catalogue is available from Vizier; images are made available via the PASA datastore, AAO Data Central, and SkyView. This is the first in a series of data releases from the GLEAM-X survey.

Understanding the physical and evolutionary properties of Hot Stellar Systems (HSS) is a major challenge in astronomy. We studied the dataset on 13 456 HSS of Misgeld & Hilker (2011, MNRAS, 414, 3 699) that includes 12 763 candidate globular clusters using stellar mass ( $M_s$ ), effective radius ( $R_e$ ) and mass-to-luminosity ratio ( $M_s/L_\nu$ ), and found multi-layered homogeneous grouping among these stellar systems. Our methods elicited eight homogeneous ellipsoidal groups at the finest sub-group level. Some of these groups have high overlap and were merged through a multi-phased syncytial algorithm motivated from Almodóvar-Rivera & Maitra (2020, JMLR, 21, 1). Five groups were merged in the first phase, resulting in three complex-structured groups. Our algorithm determined further complex structure and permitted another merging phase, revealing two complex-structured groups at the highest level. A nonparametric bootstrap procedure was also used to estimate the confidence of each of our group assignments. These assignments generally had high confidence in classification, indicating great degree of certainty of the HSS assignments into our complex-structured groups. The physical and kinematic properties of the two groups were assessed in terms of $M_s$ , $R_e$ , surface density and $M_s/L_\nu$ . The first group consisted of older, smaller and less bright HSS while the second group consisted of brighter and younger HSS. Our analysis provides novel insight into the physical and evolutionary properties of HSS and also helps understand physical and evolutionary properties of candidate globular clusters. Further, the candidate globular clusters (GCs) are seen to have very high chance of really being GCs rather than dwarfs or dwarf ellipticals that are also indicated to be quite distinct from each other.

Long-duration gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow observations offer cutting-edge opportunities to characterise the star formation history of the Universe back to the epoch of reionisation, and to measure the chemical composition of interstellar and intergalactic gas through absorption spectroscopy. The main barrier to progress is the low efficiency in rapidly and confidently identifying which bursts are high redshift ( $z > 5$ ) candidates before they fade, as this requires low-latency follow-up observations at near-infrared wavelengths (or longer) to determine a reliable photometric redshift estimate. Since no current or planned gamma-ray observatories carry near-infrared telescopes on-board, complementary facilities are needed. So far this task has been performed by instruments on the ground, but sky visibility and weather constraints limit the number of GRB targets that can be observed and the speed at which follow-up is possible. In this work we develop a Monte Carlo simulation framework to investigate an alternative approach based on the use of a rapid-response near-infrared nano-satellite, capable of simultaneous imaging in four bands from $0.8$ to $1.7\,\unicode{x03BC}$ m (a mission concept called SkyHopper). Using as reference a sample of 88 afterglows observed with the GROND instrument on the MPG/ESO telescope, we find that such a nano-satellite is capable of detecting in the H-band (1.6 $\unicode{x03BC}$ m) $72.5\% \pm 3.1\%$ of GRBs concurrently observable with the Swift satellite via its UVOT instrument (and $44.1\% \pm 12.3\%$ of high redshift ( $z>5$ ) GRBs) within 60 min of the GRB prompt emission. This corresponds to detecting ${\sim}55$ GRB afterglows per year, of which 1–3 have $z > 5$ . These rates represent a substantial contribution to the field of high-z GRB science, as only 23 $z > 5$ GRBs have been collectively discovered by the entire astronomical community over the last ${\sim}24$ yr. Future discoveries are critically needed to take advantage of next generation follow-up spectroscopic facilities such as 30m-class ground telescopes and the James Webb Space Telescope. Furthermore, a systematic space-based follow-up of afterglows in the near-infrared will offer new insight on the population of dusty (‘dark’) GRBs which are primarily found at cosmic noon ( $z\sim 1-3$ ). Additionally, we find that launching a mini-constellation of 3 near-infrared nano-satellites would increase the detection fraction of afterglows to ${\sim}83\%$ and substantially reduce the latency in the photometric redshift determination.

We present a catalogue of isolated field elliptical (IfE) galaxies drawn from the W1 field of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey (CFHTLS). 228 IfEs were identified from a flux-limited $(r<21.8)$ galaxy catalogue which corresponds to a density of 3 IfE/sq.deg. For comparison we consider a sample of elliptical galaxies living in dense environments, based on identification of the brightest cluster galaxies (BGCs) in the same survey. Using the same dataset for the comparison sample ensures a uniform selection, including in the redshift range as IfEs (i.e. $0.1<z<0.9$ ). A comparison of elliptical galaxies in different environments reveals that IfEs and BCGs have similar behaviours in their colours, star formation activities, and scaling relations of mass–size and size–luminosity. IfEs and BCGs have similar slopes in the scaling relations with respect to cluster ellipticals within the $-24 \leq M_{r} \leq -22$ magnitude and $10.2< \textrm{log}(M_{*}/ \textrm M_\odot)\leq12.0$ mass ranges. Three IfEs identified in this study can be associated with fossil groups found in the same survey area which gives clues for future studies.

We present the first unbiased survey of neutral hydrogen absorption in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The survey utilises pilot neutral hydrogen observations with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder telescope as part of the Galactic Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder neutral hydrogen project whose dataset has been processed with the Galactic Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder-HI absorption pipeline, also described here. This dataset provides absorption spectra towards 229 continuum sources, a 275% increase in the number of continuum sources previously published in the Small Magellanic Cloud region, as well as an improvement in the quality of absorption spectra over previous surveys of the Small Magellanic Cloud. Our unbiased view, combined with the closely matched beam size between emission and absorption, reveals a lower cold gas faction (11%) than the 2019 ATCA survey of the Small Magellanic Cloud and is more representative of the Small Magellanic Cloud as a whole. We also find that the optical depth varies greatly between the Small Magellanic Cloud’s bar and wing regions. In the bar we find that the optical depth is generally low (correction factor to the optically thin column density assumption of $\mathcal{R}_{\mathrm{HI}} \sim 1.04$ ) but increases linearly with column density. In the wing however, there is a wide scatter in optical depth despite a tighter range of column densities.