Era of SKAO Pathfinders – Pushing the Boundaries of the Radio Sky

Description:

The Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) will revolutionise our understanding of the radio sky and with the SKAO-Mid prototype dish having achieved first light, the future of radio astronomy is in sight. To prepare for such an impressive instrument, SKAO pathfinders (such as, LOFAR, e-MERLIN, MeerKAT) have already pushed, and are continuing to push, the boundaries of what is possible. It is important to show the wider astronomical community the vast science that has been conducted at low to mid radio frequencies and what has already been done to prepare for the transformative results the SKAO will bring.
This session will enable the UK astronomy community, particularly early-career researchers (ECRs), to present their cutting-edge research conducted using SKAO precursors. We will welcome a wide scope of science to this session to emphasize the widespread impact that current radio facilities are having on science topics such as galaxy evolution, AGN, transients, pulsars and cosmic magnetism as well as technical challenges such as the confrontation of large data sets in radio imaging. Discussion of how such research prepared us for the SKAO will help us understand the path toward its survey operations.

Organiser(s): 

Emmy Escott; Lucy Oswald; David Williams