!
Welcome!
Welcome to issue 13 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 "
Join us at 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."
AT2020afhd: A Co-Precessing Black
Hole Disk-Jet System
A tidal disruption event (TDE) occurs when an unlucky
star wanders too close to a supermassive black hole
and is torn apart, leading to a release of energy. TDEs
are important windows for studying the activation of
quiescent black holes and the formation of relativistic
jets. In the case of the TDE AT2020afhd, a dramatic
re‑brightening in early 2024 set off an international
observing campaign - including e‑MERLIN - bringing
together X‑ray, optical, and radio facilities for over a
year of intensive monitoring. During the monitoring, a
~19-day oscillation was observed in the X-ray signal,
mirrored by a fourfold change in the radio emission. The
synchronicity of these variations points strongly to a jet
and disk slowly precessing together likely due to the
Lense–Thirring effect. This study is the first compelling
evidence that a black hole’s accretion disk and its jet
can precess together. "
Read the full paper here (Wang et al. 2025, Science
Advances, 11, 50)"
User Newsletter
Issue 13 30 April 2026!
Top: The unabsorbed X-ray luminosity. Bottom: The
radio luminosity.
A new bump in a TDE
radio light curve!
Recent observations of tidal
disruption events (TDEs) have
shown delayed brightening of
radio emission but it is unclear
what the physical origins are of
this phenomenon."
Observations using e-MERLIN
have shown long-sustained
rising radio emission from a TDE
occurring in a dwarf galaxy,
~2510 days since its discovery.
The observations found a
repeating bump features in the
light curve, which is
unprecedented among known
TDEs. The radio spectral
evolution is also peculiar,
characterized by a shift toward
higher peak frequency and peak
flux density with time, in
contrast to the radio evolution
behaviours observed in any
other TDEs. "
The results could be understood
by the interaction of outflows
launched by TDE with the sub-
pc dense clouds surrounding
black hole, offering new insights
into the origins of delayed fast-
rising radio emission observed
in some TDEs."
Read the full paper here (Yang
et al. 2025, ApJ Letters, 993, 1,
2, 9)"
Shining a light on NGC 4438
A new multi‑wavelength study of the LINER galaxy
NGC 4438 - combining e‑MERLIN and VLA radio data
with Hα imaging and spectroscopy from HST and
MEGARA/GTC, plus Chandra X‑rays - has revealed
clear evidence that a compact radio jet is inflating an
ionised bubble in the galaxy’s north‑western lobe.
Non‑thermal synchrotron emission, a close match
between the radio and Hα structures, and spectral
index maps that separate the flat‑spectrum core from
the steeper outflowing material, showed that the jet is
around three orders of magnitude more powerful than
the observed outflow. This work forms part of a pilot
study that will soon expand to a full 30‑galaxy LINER
sample observed with e‑MERLIN and the VLA from
1.25 to 12 GHz, paving the way for a systematic
assessment of radio‑mode feedback and how
commonly jets drive the unexpected mass outflows
seen in these low‑luminosity AGN."
Read the full paper here (Puig-Subirà et al. 2026,
Accepted to MNRAS)."
e-MERLIN Cycle 22 call for proposals
The e-MERLIN cycle 22 call for proposals has been
announced. All information can be found here. The
deadline for proposals is 13:59 UT on Thursday 21st
May 2026 Click here to get to the submission portal.
The L band map of the jet in NGC 4438
www.e-merlin.ac.uk
PRECISEly localising the fourth PRS
of a repeating FRB
FRB 20190417A has now been confirmed as only the
fourth fast radio burst associated with a persistent
radio source (PRS), thanks to EVN‑Lite PRECISE
observations combining EVN and e‑MERLIN data.
Recently, multiple bursts with milliarsecond precision
have been localised for FRB20190417A, showing they
coincide with a compact PRS in a low‑metallicity,
star‑forming dwarf galaxy at z = 0.128. The PRS is
extremely small—under 23 pc—and faint, and the
team measured both a highly variable rotation
measure and the largest known host dispersion
measure contribution for an FRB, pointing to a dense,
strongly magnetised environment. These results
reinforce the idea of a rare subclass of
repeaters with luminous PRSs and
extreme local conditions, potentially
linked to very young magnetars. The
source’s unusually dense
surroundings also open the door to
alternative interpretations, such as
compact objects embedded near
massive stars or black holes. Overall,
the findings highlight the importance
of future EVN studies in determining
whether such systems represent a
brief evolutionary phase or a distinct
FRB engine, and they provide
particularly valuable targets for
deeper multi‑wavelength follow‑up."
Read the full paper here (Moroianu et
al. 2026, The Astrophysical Journal
Letters, 996, 1, 16)."
Announcements!
EVN Call for Proposals.
Deadline 1 June 2026. Click
here for further information'
Meetings/Workshops!
ERIS 2026 Noto, Italy, 7-11
September 2026, Click here for
more details"
EVN Symposium Manchester,
UK, 14-18 Septembers 2026,
Click here for more details"
Localisation of the FRB 201901417A with the
EVN+e-MERLIN
