Pulsar Science with the SKA Observatory

The Open Journal of Astrophysics Maynooth University 8 Supplement:1 (2025)

Authors:

Bhal Chandra Joshi, Aris Karastergiou, Marta Burgay

Abstract:

The large instantaneous sensitivity, a wide frequency coverage and flexible observation modes with large number of beams in the sky are the main features of the SKA observatory’s two telescopes, the SKA-Low and the SKA-Mid, which are located on two different continents. Owing to these capabilities, the SKAO telescopes are going to be a game-changer for radio astronomy in general and pulsar astronomy in particular. The eleven articles in this special issue on pulsar science with the SKA Observatory describe its impact on different areas of pulsar science. In this lead article, a brief description of the two telescopes highlighting the relevant features for pulsar science is presented followed by an overview of each accompanying article, exploring the inter-relationship between different pulsar science use cases.

Understanding pulsar magnetospheres with the SKAO

The Open Journal of Astrophysics Maynooth University 8 Supplement:1 (2025)

Authors:

Lucy S Oswald, Avishek Basu, Manoneeta Chakraborty, Bhal Chandra Joshi, Natalia Lewandowska, Kuo Liu, Marcus Lower, Alexander Phillipov, Xiaoxi Song, Pratik Tarafdar, Joeri van Leeuwen, Anna Watts, Patrick Weltevrede, Geoff Wright, Jan Benacek, Aru Beri, Shunshun Cao, Paolo Esposito, Fabian Jankowski, Jinchen Jiang, Aris Karastergiou, Kejia Lee, Nanda Rea, Dany Vohl

Abstract:

The SKA telescopes will bring unparalleled sensitivity across a broad radio band, a wide field of view across the Southern sky, and the capacity for sub-arraying, all of which make it the ideal instrument for studying the pulsar magnetosphere. This paper describes the advances that have been made in pulsar magnetosphere physics over the last decade, and details how these have been made possible through the advances of modern radio telescopes, particularly SKA precursors and pathfinders. It explains how the SKA telescopes would transform the field of pulsar magnetosphere physics through a combination of large-scale monitoring surveys and in-depth follow-up observations of unique sources and new discoveries. Finally, it describes how the specific observing opportunities available with the AA* and AA4 configurations will achieve the advances necessary to solve the problem of pulsar radio emission physics in the coming years.

Prompt Searches for Very-High-Energy γ-Ray Counterparts to IceCube Astrophysical Neutrino Alerts

(2025)

Authors:

J Abhir, A Biland, K Brand, T Bretz, D Dorner, L Eisenberger, D Elsaesser, P Günther, S Hasan, D Hildebrand, K Mannheim, M Linhoff, F Pfeifle, W Rhode, B Schleicher, V Sliusar, M Vorbrugg, R Walter, F Aharonian, F Ait Benkhali, J Aschersleben, H Ashkar, M Backes, V Barbosa Martins, R Batzofin, Y Becherini, D Berge, M Böttcher, C Boisson, J Bolmont, J Borowska, R Brose, A Brown, F Brun, B Bruno, S Casanova, J Celic, M Cerruti, A Chen, M Chernyakova, J Chibueze, O Chibueze, B Cornejo, G Cotter, G Cozzolongo, J Damascene Mbarubucyeye, J de Assis Scarpin, A Delgado Giles, A Djannati-Ataï, J Djuvsland, A Dmytriiev, K Egberts, K Egg, S Einecke, J-P Ernenwein, C Escañ, K Feijen, M Filipovic, G Fontaine, S Funk, S Gabici, JF Glicenstein, P Goswami, G Grolleron, B Heß, JA Hinton, M Holler, M Jamrozy, F Jankowsky, I Jung-Richardt, E Kasai, K Katarzyń, H Katjaita, D Kerszberg, R Khatoon, B Khélifi, W Kluź, Nu Komin, R Konno, K Kosack, D Kostunin, G Kukec Mezek, RG Lang, A Lemière, M Lemoine-Goumard, J-P Lenain, A Luashvili, J Mackey, V Marandon, G Martí-Devesa, R Marx, M Mayer, A Mehta, A Mitchell, R Moderski, MO Moghadam, L Mohrmann, E Moulin, M de Naurois, J Niemiec, E de Ona Wilhelmi, S Panny, M Panter, RD Parsons, U Pensec, P Pichard, G Pühlhofer, M Punch, A Quirrenbach, M Regeard, O Reimer, H Ren, F Rieger, G Rowell, B Rudak, K Sabri, V Sahakian, H Salzmann, M Sasaki, J Schäfer, F Schüssler, HM Schutte, M Senniappan, JNS Shapopi, A Sharma, H Sol, S Spencer, Ł., R Steenkamp, S Steinmassl, C Steppa, T Takahashi, T Tanaka, AM Taylor, M Tsirou, C van Eldik, M Vecchi, C Venter, J Vink, T Wach, SJ Wagner, A Wierzcholska, M Zacharias, AA Zdziarski, A Zech, N Żywucka, S Abe, J Abhir, A Abhishek, A Aguasca-Cabot, I Agudo, T Aniello, S Ansoldi, LA Antonelli, A Arbet Engels, C Arcaro, M Artero, K Asano, A Babić, C Bakshi, U Barres de Almeida, JA Barrio, L Barrios-Jiménez, I Batković, J Baxter, J Becerra González, W Bednarek, E Bernardini, J Bernete, A Berti, J Besenrieder, C Bigongiari, A Biland, O Blanch, H Bökenkamp, G Bonnoli, Ž, E Bronzini, I Burelli, A Campoy-Ordaz, A Carosi, R Carosi, M Carretero-Castrillo, AJ Castro-Tirado, D Cerasole, G Ceribella, Y Chai, A Chilingarian, A Cifuentes, JL Contreras, J Cortina, S Covino, G D'Amico, P Da Vela, F Dazzi, A De Angelis, B De Lotto, M Delfino, C Delgado Mendez, F Di Pierro, R Di Tria, L Di Venere, A Dinesh, D Dominis Prester, A Donini, D Dorner, M Doro, L Eisenberger, D Elsaesser, J Escudero, L Fariña, A Fattorini, L Foffano, L Font, S Fröse, Y Fukazawa, S Gasparyan, M Gaug, JG Giesbrecht Paiva, N Giglietto, F Giordano, P Gliwny, N Godinović, T Gradetzke, R Grau, D Green, JG Green, P Günther, D Hadasch, A Hahn, T Hassan, L Heckmann, D Hrupec, R Imazawa, D Israyelyan, I Jiménez Martínez, J Jiménez Quiles, J Jormanainen, S Kankkunen, T Kayanoki, D Kerszberg, J Konrad, PM Kouch, H Kubo, J Kushida, M Láinez, A Lamastra, E Lindfors, S Lombardi, F Longo, R López-Coto, M López-Moya, A López-Oramas, S Loporchio, L Lulić, E Lyard, P Majumdar, M Makariev, M Mallamaci, G Maneva, M Manganaro, S Mangano, S Marchesi, M Mariotti, M Martínez, P Maruš, A Mas-Aguilar, D Mazin, S Menchiari, J Méndez Gallego, D Miceli, JM Miranda, R Mirzoyan, M Molero González, E Molina, HA Mondal, A Moralejo, T Nakamori, C Nanci, V Neustroev, M Nievas Rosillo, C Nigro, L Nikolić, K Nilsson, K Nishijima, K Noda, S Nozaki, A Okumura, J Otero-Santos, S Paiano, D Paneque, JM Paredes, M Peresano, M Persic, M Pihet, F Podobnik, PG Prada Moroni, E Prandini, M Ribó, J Rico, T Saito, S Sakurai, K Satalecka, FG Saturni, K Schmitz, F Schmuckermaier, JL Schubert, A Sciaccaluga, G Silvestri, J Sitarek, V Sliusar, D Sobczynska, A Stamerra, J Striš, D Strom, M Strzys, Y Suda, H Tajima, M Takahashi, R Takeishi, P Temnikov, K Terauchi, T Terzić, A Tutone, S Ubach, J van Scherpenberg, M Vazquez Acosta, S Ventura, G Verna, I Viale, A Vigliano, CF Vigorito, E Visentin, V Vitale, I Vovk, R Walter, F Wersig, M Will, T Yamamoto, PKH Yeung, S Yoo, A Acharyya, A Archer, P Bangale, JT Bartkoske, W Benbow, JH Buckley, Y Chen, JL Christiansen, AJ Chromey, M Errando, S Feldman, Q Feng, S Filbert, L Fortson, A Furniss, W Hanlon, O Hervet, CE Hinrichs, J Holder, Z Hughes, TB Humensky, W Jin, MN Johnson, P Kaaret, M Kertzman, M Kherlakian, D Kieda, TK Kleiner, N Korzoun, MJ Lang, M Lundy, G Maier, MJ Millard, J Millis, P Moriarty, R Mukherjee, W Ning, RA Ong, A Pandey, M Pohl, J Quinn, PL Rabinowitz, K Ragan, PT Reynolds, D Ribeiro, E Roache, I Sadeh, AC Sadun, L Saha, M Santander, GH Sembroski, R Shang, D Tak, AK Talluri, JV Tucci, J Valverde, VV Vassiliev, DA Williams, SL Wong, S Buson, R Abbasi, M Ackermann, J Adams, SK Agarwalla, JA Aguilar, M Ahlers, JM Alameddine, S Ali, NM Amin, K Andeen, C Argü, Y Ashida, S Athanasiadou, SN Axani, R Babu, X Bai, J Baines-Holmes, A Balagopal V., SW Barwick, S Bash, V Basu, R Bay, JJ Beatty, J Becker Tjus, P Behrens, J Beise, C Bellenghi, B Benkel, S BenZvi, D Berley, E Bernardini, DZ Besson, E Blaufuss, L Bloom, S Blot, I Bodo, F Bontempo, JY Book Motzkin, C Boscolo Meneguolo, S Bö, O Botner, J Bö, J Braun, B Brinson, Z Brisson-Tsavoussis, RT Burley, D Butterfield, MA Campana, K Carloni, J Carpio, S Chattopadhyay, N Chau, Z Chen, D Chirkin, S Choi, BA Clark, A Coleman, P Coleman, GH Collin, DA Coloma Borja, A Connolly, JM Conrad, DF Cowen, C De Clercq, JJ DeLaunay, D Delgado, T Delmeulle, S Deng, P Desiati, KD de Vries, G de Wasseige, T DeYoung, JC Dí, S DiKerby, T Ding, M Dittmer, A Domi, L Draper, L Dueser, D Durnford, K Dutta, MA DuVernois, T Ehrhardt, L Eidenschink, A Eimer, P Eller, E Ellinger, D Elsä, R Engel, H Erpenbeck, W Esmail, S Eulig, J Evans, PA Evenson, KL Fan, K Fang, K Farrag, AR Fazely, A Fedynitch, N Feigl, C Finley, L Fischer, D Fox, A Franckowiak, S Fukami, P Fü, J Gallagher, E Ganster, A Garcia, M Garcia, G Garg, E Genton, L Gerhardt, A Ghadimi, C Glaser, T Glü, JG Gonzalez, S Goswami, A Granados, D Grant, SJ Gray, S Griffin, S Griswold, KM Groth, D Guevel, C Gü, P Gutjahr, C Ha, C Haack, A Hallgren, L Halve, F Halzen, L Hamacher, M Ha Minh, M Handt, K Hanson, J Hardin, AA Harnisch, P Hatch, A Haungs, J Hä, K Helbing, J Hellrung, B Henke, L Hennig, F Henningsen, L Heuermann, R Hewett, N Heyer, S Hickford, A Hidvegi, C Hill, GC Hill, R Hmaid, KD Hoffman, D Hooper, S Hori, K Hoshina, M Hostert, W Hou, M Hrywniak, T Huber, K Hultqvist, K Hymon, A Ishihara, W Iwakiri, M Jacquart, S Jain, O Janik, M Jansson, M Jeong, M Jin, N Kamp, D Kang, W Kang, X Kang, A Kappes, L Kardum, T Karg, M Karl, A Karle, A Katil, M Kauer, JL Kelley, M Khanal, A Khatee Zathul, A Kheirandish, H Kimku, J Kiryluk, C Klein, SR Klein, Y Kobayashi, A Kochocki, R Koirala, H Kolanoski, T Kontrimas, L Kö, C Kopper, DJ Koskinen, P Koundal, M Kowalski, T Kozynets, A Kravka, N Krieger, J Krishnamoorthi, T Krishnan, K Kruiswijk, E Krupczak, A Kumar, E Kun, N Kurahashi, N Lad, C Lagunas Gualda, L Lallement Arnaud, M Lamoureux, MJ Larson, F Lauber, JP Lazar, K Leonard DeHolton, A Leszczyń, J Liao, C Lin, YT Liu, M Liubarska, C Love, L Lu, F Lucarelli, W Luszczak, Y Lyu, M Macdonald, J Madsen, E Magnus, Y Makino, E Manao, S Mancina, A Mand, IC Mariş, S Marka, Z Marka, L Marten, I Martinez-Soler, R Maruyama, J Mauro, F Mayhew, F McNally, JV Mead, K Meagher, S Mechbal, A Medina, M Meier, Y Merckx, L Merten, J Mitchell, L Molchany, S Mondal, T Montaruli, RW Moore, Y Morii, A Mosbrugger, M Moulai, D Mousadi, E Moyaux, T Mukherjee, R Naab, M Nakos, U Naumann, J Necker, L Neste, M Neumann, H Niederhausen, MU Nisa, K Noda, A Noell, A Novikov, A Obertacke, V O'Dell, A Olivas, R Orsoe, J Osborn, E O'Sullivan, V Palusova, H Pandya, A Parenti, N Park, V Parrish, EN Paudel, L Paul, C Pé, T Pernice, TC Petersen, J Peterson, M Plum, A Ponté, V Poojyam, Y Popovych, M Prado Rodriguez, B Pries, R Procter-Murphy, GT Przybylski, L Pyras, C Raab, J Rack-Helleis, N Rad, M Ravn, K Rawlins, Z Rechav, A Rehman, I Reistroffer, E Resconi, S Reusch, CD Rho, W Rhode, L Ricca, B Riedel, A Rifaie, EJ Roberts, M Rongen, A Rosted, C Rott, T Ruhe, L Ruohan, D Ryckbosch, J Saffer, D Salazar-Gallegos, P Sampathkumar, A Sandrock, G Sanger-Johnson, M Santander, S Sarkar, J Savelberg, M Scarnera, P Schaile, M Schaufel, H Schieler, S Schindler, L Schlickmann, B Schlü, F Schlü, N Schmeisser, T Schmidt, FG Schrö, L Schumacher, S Schwirn, S Sclafani, D Seckel, L Seen, M Seikh, S Seunarine, PA Sevle Myhr, R Shah, S Shefali, N Shimizu, B Skrzypek, R Snihur, J Soedingrekso, A Sø, D Soldin, P Soldin, G Sommani, C Spannfellner, GM Spiczak, C Spiering, J Stachurska, M Stamatikos, T Stanev, T Stezelberger, T Stü, T Stuttard, GW Sullivan, I Taboada, S Ter-Antonyan, A Terliuk, A Thakuri, M Thiesmeyer, WG Thompson, J Thwaites, S Tilav, K Tollefson, S Toscano, D Tosi, A Trettin, AK Upadhyay, K Upshaw, A Vaidyanathan, N Valtonen-Mattila, J Valverde, J Vandenbroucke, T Van Eeden, N van Eijndhoven, L Van Rootselaar, J van Santen, J Vara, F Varsi, M Venugopal, M Vereecken, S Vergara Carrasco, S Verpoest, D Veske, A Vijai, J Villarreal, C Walck, A Wang, EHS Warrick, C Weaver, P Weigel, A Weindl, J Weldert, AY Wen, C Wendt, J Werthebach, M Weyrauch, N Whitehorn, CH Wiebusch, DR Williams, L Witthaus, M Wolf, G Wrede, XW Xu, JP Yanez, Y Yao, E Yildizci, S Yoshida, R Young, F Yu, S Yu, T Yuan, A Zander Jurowitzki, A Zegarelli, S Zhang, Z Zhang, P Zhelnin, P Zilberman, F D'Ammando

The critical role of clumping in line-driven disc winds

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Oxford University Press 545:3 (2025) staf2183

Authors:

Amin Mosallanezhad, Christian Knigge, Nicolas Scepi, Knox S Long, James H Matthews, Stuart A Sim, Austen Wallis

Abstract:

Radiation pressure on spectral lines is a promising mechanism for powering disc winds from accreting white dwarfs (AWDs) and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). However, in radiation-hydrodynamic simulations, overionization reduces line opacity and quenches the line force, which suppresses outflows. Here, we show that small-scale clumping can resolve this problem. Adopting the microclumping approximation, our new simulations demonstrate that even modest volume filling factors () can dramatically increase the wind mass-loss rate by lowering its ionization state – raising and yielding for such modest filling factors. Clumpy wind models produce the UV resonance lines that are absent from smooth wind models. They can also reprocess a significant fraction of the disc luminosity and thus dramatically modify the broad-band optical/UV SED. Given that theory and observations indicate that disc winds are intrinsically inhomogeneous, clumping offers a physically motivated solution. Together, these results provide the first robust, self-consistent demonstration that clumping can reconcile line-driven wind theory with observations across AWDs and AGNs.

MeerKAT observations of white dwarf pulsars

Sissa Medialab Srl (2025) 061

Authors:

Emil Meintjes, PA Woudt, M Geyer, I Heywood, V Prayag, B Stappers, D Ah Buckley, M Caleb, R Fender, I Pelisoli