Fast radio variability in low-mass stars

Project Description:

Recently it has become possible to reimagine MeerKAT radio data sets on short (8s) timescales. This opens up the possibility to investigate the short-period variability in highly-variable radio sources. One such source is the low-mass star LP888 which was studied both in the optical and radio, as part of the extragalactic LADUMA observations. This source was the main topic of the MSc thesis of Moses Mlangeni. The Honours project will be to take the same data sets, reimage the radio data on short time scales using the Polkat software suite and analyse the radio variability of this source on short time scales. If time allows, the radio variability will be correlated to the optical data, obtained with MeerLICHT, where the source is seen to strongly flare, especially in the bluest wavebands.

Research Area:

Astronomy

Project Level:

Honours

This Project Is Offered At The Following Node(s):

(UCT)