!
Welcome!
Happy New Year and welcome to
issue 12 of the e-MERLIN
newsletter. If you would like to
contribute to the e-MERLIN
newsletter, please get in touch at:
emerlin.support@jb.man.ac.uk "
Save the Date for the
EVN Symposium!
The EVN Symposium is coming to
Manchester! In September 2026,
members of the e-MERLIN team
will be supporting and organising
the biennial EVN symposium,
bringing together VLBI scientists
from across the world. Click here
for more information."
A ‘dark’ object in the gravitational lens
object B1938+666
Gravitational lensing is caused by light from a distant
object bending around a massive foreground object like
a galaxy, causing the background object to be
magnified/distorted in large arcs. In JVAS B1938+666
then lens is caused by a foreground luminous infrared
galaxy, resulting in an "Einstein ring". By studying and
measuring the size and shape of the arcs, it is possible
to gain information on both the matter content of the
lens and the distant background object too, inferring
critical information on dark matter."
In B1938+666, EVN+e-MERLIN observations coupled
with highly sophisticated modelling algorithms have
found a low mass ‘dark’ object with a mass of roughly 1
million Solar masses. This is the lowest mass object to
be found using this technique, by a factor of about 100,
but it is unclear what this object is with further searches
underway to find similar sources in other lenses."
Read the full papers here (Powell et al. 2025, Nature, 9,
1714) and here (McKean et al. 2025, MNRAS 544, 1,
L24-30)"
User Newsletter
Issue 12 27 January 2026!
Einstein Ring B1938+666 with the newly discovered
object
Lovell frequency
flexibility proves a hit
for GRB follow-up
Studies of Gamma Ray Bursts
require rapid follow up with
sensitive radio observations, in
order to capture the reverse and
forward shocks phases of their
radio afterglows. Recent
engineering developments with
the Lovell telescope at Jodrell
Bank has enabled a new
frequency flexibility mode to be
commissioned, allowing rapid
changing of bands to
dynamically schedule the Lovell
with e-MERLIN. The first
datasets obtained in this mode
for GRB 231117A has been
published, providing a detection."
Read the full paper here
(Anderson et al. 2025, ApJ, 994,
1, 5, 25)."
Radio emission detected from a
nearby active M‑dwarf binary
Low‑mass stars and brown dwarfs dominate the
stellar population of the Milky Way, yet their magnetic
behaviour remains one of the most intriguing open
questions in stellar astrophysics. M dwarfs host
intense magnetic fields capable of powering flares,
auroral activity, and persistent radio emission.
Understanding how these objects generate and
sustain such activity is essential for probing the
physics of stellar dynamos."
Recently, archival VLA and follow-up e-MERLIN
observations have detected quiescent radio emission
from the nearby tight M‑dwarf binary 2MASS
J02132062+3648506 AB. The system is detected at
4–8 GHz with a peak flux density of ~356 µJy and a
negative spectral index, consistent with
gyrosynchrotron emission from energetic electrons
trapped in magnetic fields. These results demonstrate
the power of e‑MERLIN’s high angular resolution to
probe magnetic activity in the lowest‑mass stars. "
Read the full papers here (Wandia et al. 2025,
MNRAS, 543, 3, 1935) "
e-MERLIN Cycle 21 results
announcement
The results for cycle 21 of the e-MERLIN call for
proposals have now been released to PIs. The
successful programmes are listed here.
www.e-merlin.ac.uk
A long-lived radio afterglow in the fifth
jetted/relativistic TDE
Relativistic tidal disruption events (TDEs) are rare,
luminous, multi-wavelength transients that occur
when a relativistic outflow is launched from a
supermassive black hole during the disruption of a
star. To date there are only handful of confirmed
relativistic TDEs and only two that have been studied
in detail. "
Recent radio and sub-mm observations including e-
MERLIN were combined to study the newest
relativistic TDE AT2022cmc.$Comparisons to the best-
studied relativistic TDE, Swift J1644, showed that the
light curve evolution was similar in both cases, but
AT2022cmc was twice as energetic despite Swift
J1644 being systematically more luminous. "
The observations found that the broadband emission
is not consistent with only non-
thermal synchrotron radiation, and
that the Lorentz factor of the jet sits
in a region of parameter space
higher than those from X-ray
binaries and lower than those from
gamma-ray bursts. Neither of these
types of source show evidence of
thermal electrons, potentially
providing a new avenue for
understanding how the radio
emission from jets varies as a
function of outflow velocity."
Read the full paper here (Rhodes et
al. 2025, MNRAS, 992, 1, 146)."
Announcements!
EVN Call for Proposals.
Deadline 1 February 2026. Click
here for further information"
Effelsberg Call for Proposals.
Deadline 2 March 2026. Click
here for further information"
Meetings/Workshops"
%
NAM 2026, Birmingham, UK,
20-24 July 2026, Click here for
more details"
EVN Symposium. Manchester,
UK, 14-19 Sep 2026, Click here
for more details"
Post-shock energy vs shock velocity for AT2022cmc