Welcome!
Welcome to the issue 3 of the e-
MERLIN newsletter. We will be
publishing e-MERLIN-related
news and science highlights,
including calls for proposals,
adverts for summer schools and
links to e-MERLIN partners like
the EVN and ORP. If you would
like to contribute to the e-MERLIN
newsletter, please get in touch at:
emerlin.support@jb.man.ac.uk !
Setting up for SETI
The Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence (SETI) has conducted
numerous searches for techno-
signatures for decades. However,
the use of long baseline arrays
such as e-MERLIN and EVN has
not been fully explored even
though the astrometry and
sensitivity allows you to localise
signals better with greater
robustness. Observations with
EVN + e-MERLIN serendipitously
detected a signal at 1420.4 MHz,
but this turned out to be due to
Galactic hydrogen in the beams
of the antennas while looking at
the exoplanet system
Kepler-111b. Never-the-less, this
work paves the way for future
SETI studies using VLBI. !
Read the full paper here (Wandia
et al. 2023, MNRAS, Volume 223,
Issue 3, pp 3784)!
e-MERLIN detects the Type 1a
supernova, SN2020eyj
Some stars die as Type 1a supernovae, where a
thermonuclear explosion of a white dwarf occurs due to
reaching the Chandrasekhar limit. However, the exact
evolutionary path of these systems is still unclear. Two
scenarios, the single degenerate (one white dwarf and a
companion star in a binary) and the double degenerate
(coalescence of two white dwarfs) have been proposed.
One observational piece of evidence that may support
the single degenerate scenario is the presence of radio
emission owing to interaction between the explosion
and the companion stars winds. !
e-MERLIN has detected radio emission for the first time
in any Type 1a supernova. This particular supernova, SN
2020eyj, showed evidence for circumstellar medium
interaction with helium lines evident in its optical
spectrum. The radio data were taken over 600 days
post explosion and future observations will identify what
is causing the radio emission.!
Read the full paper here (Kool et al. 2023, Nature,
Volume 617, Issue 7961, 477-482)!
User Newsletter
Issue 3 31 July 2023!
e-MERLIN detections and models for SN2020eyj
Announcements
NOEMA Call for Proposals.
Deadline 14 September 2023.
Click here for further information!
EVN Call for Proposals.
Deadline 1 October 2023. Click
here for further information!
Meetings/Workshops
YERAC 2023 Manchester, UK,
12-15 September 2023, Click
here for more details!
IAU Symposium 285:
Astronomy and Satellite
Constellations La Palma,
Spain, 2-6 October 2023, Click
here for more details!
Hubble and e-MERLIN linking AGN
and galaxy evolution
The evolution of galaxies is influenced by the central
active galactic nucleus (AGN) and star formation in the
bulge, with a well-established relation between the
bulge mass and the supermassive black hole
powering the AGN. Distinguishing low-luminosity AGN
from the bulge in nearby galaxies presents challenges,
complicated by features such as rings and bars. This
necessitates the use of high-resolution e-MERLIN
radio data and Hubble optical data to separate the
AGN from other emission sources and isolate the
bulge.!
As part of the e-MERLIN legacy (LeMMINGs) project,
1.5 GHz e-MERLIN radio data have been recently
published for 280 nearby galaxies. In this follow-up
study, HST imaging was used to perform multi-
component decompositions into AGN, bar, bulge, and
disc for 173/280 galaxies. This allowed the authors to
accurately separate the bulge, which becomes
rounder, more prominent and larger going from
e-MERLIN Cycle 16 results
announced
The results for cycle 16 of the e-MERLIN call for
proposals have now been released to PIs. The
successful programmes are listed here.
YERAC 2023
The Young European Radio
Astronomer’s conference
(YERAC) will be taking place at
the University of Manchester
from 12-15 September 2023.
Designed for ECRs and PhD
students, all participants will
get an opportunity to present
their research in a friendly
environment. Participation is
limited to a capacity of 40.!
Sign up here as soon as
possible to book your place!
www.e-merlin.ac.uk
irregular to elliptical galaxies. When comparing it to
the radio data, bulge dominance is linked to brighter
radio core luminosities, with both the AGN and radio
detection fractions increasing with the bulge mass.
Notably, the analysis reveals a transition from AGN-
dominated radio emission in massive bulges to stellar-
driven processes in low-mass bulges. Radio-loud
hosts preferred early-type morphology, but no obvious
dependence on environment was found for radio
loudness, nuclear radio activity, and the AGN fraction
at a fixed bulge mass.
Read the full papers here (Dullo et al. 2023a, A&A,
Volume 675, id A105) and here (Dullo et al. 2023b,
MNRAS, Volume 522, Issue 3, 3412-3438).!
e-MERLIN at the National
Astronomical Meeting 2023
The National Astronomical Meeting 2023 was held at
Cardiff University from 3-7 July and e-MERLIN
attended as part of a combined JBCA stall with the
UK SKA Regional Centre, LOFAR and the ALMA ARC
Node. Over the course of the week, we spoke to many
delegates and distributed flyers, stickers and so many
coasters! It was a great opportunity to meet and
engage with the larger UK radio science community.!
The JBCA NAM 2023 stall
e-MERLIN data school
e-MERLIN will be organising it’s
first CASA data school between
23-25 October 2023 at the
University of Manchester. We
will be covering how to use the
e-MERLIN CASA Pipeline, data
analysis and imaging. It is
designed for ECRs and PhD
students. Sign up is not yet
open, but all information will be
added here in due course.
UK SKA Regional
Center Jobs at
Manchester
As part of the UK's SKA
Regional Centre (UKSRC)
Project, The University of
Manchester is recruiting 12 new
positions across research and
technical development areas to
join our existing team.!
The UKSRC will act as a hub
for UK astronomers to access
SKAO data and provide the
resources, services, support
and training to capitalise from
the project. !
Job adverts for these roles and
others across the UKSRC can
be found here.