Asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are important to chemical evolution at metallicity $Z \sim 0.0001$ ($\text{[Fe/H]} \approx -2.2$) as they contribute significantly to the production of nitrogen, lead, and dust in the early Universe. The contribution of AGB stars to the chemical evolution of the Universe is often quantified using the chemical yields from single AGB stars. Binary evolution challenges our understanding of chemical evolution as binary phenomena such as mergers and mass transfer episodes can significantly alter the stellar evolution pathways and yields. In this work, we use binary population synthesis code binary_c to model populations of low and intermediate-mass ($\sim 0.7$–$7\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$) stars at metallicity $Z = 0.0001$. Our binary star populations predict $\sim 37\%$ fewer thermally pulsing AGB stars than our single star populations, leading to a $\sim 40\%$ decrease in the amount of ejected C and a $\sim 35$–40% reduction in elements synthesised through the slow neutron capture process. The uncertainty introduced by the mass-loss from stellar winds on the AGB makes the impact of binary evolution on the total amount of ejected N uncertain. The total N yield ejected by our binary star populations ranges from a 17% to a 36% decrease compared to our single star populations. However, our binary populations overproduce N by over an order of magnitude during the period $300\text{--}700\, {\rm Myr}$ after formation.

Data from observations of pulsars made by Murriyang, the CSIRO Parkes 64-metre radio-telescope over the last three decades are more accessible than ever before, largely due to their storage in expansive long-term archives. Containing nearly 2 million files from more than 400 Parkes pulsar projects, CSIRO’s Data Access Portal is leading the global effort in making pulsar data accessible. In this article, we present the current status of the archive and provide information about the acquisition, analysis, reduction, visualisation, preservation, and dissemination of these datasets. We highlight the importance of such an archive and present a selection of new results emanating from archival data.

We present the discovery of PSR J1728–4608, a new redback spider pulsar identified in images from the Australian SKA Pathfinder telescope. PSR J1728–4608 is a millisecond pulsar with a spin period of 2.86 ms, in a 5.05 hr orbit with a companion star. The pulsar exhibits a radio spectrum of the form Sv ∝ vα, with a measured spectral index of α = –1.8(3). It is eclipsed for 42% of its orbit at 888 MHz, and multi–frequency image–domain observations show that the egress duration scales with frequency as a power law with index n = –1.74, where longer duration eclipses are seen at lower frequencies. An optical counterpart is detected in archival Gaia data within 0.5″ of the radio position. It has a mean G-band magnitude of 18.8 mag and its light curve displays characteristics consistent with a combination of ellipsoidal modulation and irradiation effects. We also report the nearest Fermi γ-ray source, located 2′ away from our source, as a possible association. A radio timing study constrains the intrinsic and orbital properties of the system, revealing orbital period variations that we attribute to changes in the gravitational quadrupole moment of the companion star. At the eclipse boundary, we measure a maximum dispersion measure excess of 2.0 ± 1.2 pc cm−3, corresponding to an electron column density of 5.9 ± 3.6 × 1018 pc cm−2. Modelling of the eclipse mechanism suggests that synchrotron absorption is the dominant cause of the eclipses observed at radio wavelengths. The discovery and characterisation of systems like PSR J1728–4608 provide valuable insights into pulsar recycling, binary evolution, the nature of companion-driven eclipses, and the interplay between compact objects and their plasma environments.

We search data from the GLEAM-X survey, obtained with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) in 2020, for the presence of radio frequency interference from distant Earth-orbiting satellites, in the form of unintended emissions similar to those recently seen from objects in Low Earth Orbits (LEO). Using the GLEAM-X δ = 1.6◦ pointing, which is stationary in azimuth (on the local Meridian) and elevation (near the celestial Equator), the very wide field of view of the MWA maintains custody of a large number of satellites in geostationary and geosynchronous (GEO) orbits in this direction for long periods of time. We use one night of GLEAM-X data in the 72 - 231 MHz frequency range to form stacked images at the predicted coordinates of up to 162 such satellites, in order to search for unintended radio emission. In the majority of cases, we reach 4σ upper limits of better than 1 mW Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) in a 30.72 MHz bandwidth (dual polarisation), with the best limits below 10 µW. No convincing evidence for unintended emissions at these detection thresholds was found. This study builds on recent work showing an increasing prevalence of unintended emissions from satellites in LEO. Any such emission from objects in GEO could be a significant contributor to radio frequency interference experienced by the low frequency Square Kilometre Array and warrants monitoring. The current study forms a baseline for comparisons to future monitoring.

A Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) was detected crossing the radio signals transmitted by the Mars Express (MEX) and Tianwen-1 (TIW) spacecraft at a solar elongation of 4.4o. The impact of the CME was clearly identifiable in the spacecraft signal SNR, Doppler noise and phase residuals observed at the University of Tasmania’s Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) antenna in Ceduna, South Australia. The residual phases observed from the spacecraft were highly correlated with each other during the transit of the CME across the radio ray-path despite the spacecraft signals having substantially different Doppler trends. We analyse the auto- and cross-correlations between the spacecraft phase residuals, finding time-lags ranging between 3.18-14.43 seconds depending on whether the imprinted fluctuations were stronger on the uplink or the downlink radio ray-paths. We also examine the temporal evolution of the phase fluctuations to probe the finer structure of the CME and demonstrate that there was a clear difference in the turbulence regime of the CME leading edge and the background solar wind conditions several hours prior to the CME radio occultation. Finally, autocorrelation of the MEX two-way radio Doppler noise data from Ceduna and closed-loop Doppler data from ESA’s New Norcia ground station antenna were used to constrain the location of the CME impact along the radio ray-path to a region 0.2 AU from the Sun, at a heliospheric longitude consistent with CME origin at the Sun. The results presented demonstrate the potential of the multi-spacecraft-in-beam technique for studying CME structures in great detail, and providing measurements that complement the capabilities of future solar monitoring instruments.

Common envelope (CE) evolution is largely governed by the drag torque applied on the in-spiralling stellar components by the envelope. Previous work has shown that idealized models of the torque based on a single body moving in rectilinear motion through an unperturbed atmosphere can be highly inaccurate. Progress requires new models for the torque that account for binarity. Toward this end we perform a new 3D global hydrodynamic CE simulation with the mass of the companion point particle set equal to the mass of the asymptotic giant branch star core particle to maximize symmetry and facilitate interpretation. First, we find that a region around the particles of a scale comparable to their separation contributes essentially all of the torque. Second, the density pattern of the torque-dominating gas and, to an extent, this gas itself, is roughly in corotation with the binary. Third, approximating the spatial distribution of the torquing gas as a uniform-density prolate spheroid whose major axis resides in the orbital plane and lags the line joining the binary components by a constant phase angle reproduces the torque evolution remarkably well, analogous to studies of binary supermassive black holes. Fourth, we compare the torque measured in the simulation with the predictions of a model that assumes two weak point-mass perturbers undergoing circular motion in a uniform background without gas self-gravity, and find remarkable agreement with our results if the background density is taken to be equal to a fixed fraction (≈ 0.44) of the density at the spheroid surface. Overall, this work makes progress toward developing simple time-dependent models of the CE phase, for example by informing the development of drag force prescriptions for 1D spherically symmetric CE simulations, which could be used to explore the parameter space of luminous red novae or in binary population synthesis studies.

Astronomical objects that change rapidly give us insight into extreme environments, allowing us to identify new phenomena, test fundamental physics, and probe the Universe on all scales. Transient and variable radio sources range from the cosmological, such as gamma-ray bursts, to much more local events, such as massive flares from stars in our Galactic neighbourhood. The capability to observe the sky repeatedly, over many frequencies and timescales, has allowed us to explore and understand dynamic phenomena in a way that has not been previously possible. In the past decade, there have been great strides forward as we prepared for the revolution in time domain radio astronomy that is being enabled by the SKA Observatory telescopes, the SKAO pathfinders and precursors, and other ‘next generation’ radio telescopes. Hence it is timely to review the current status of the field, and summarise the developments that have happened to get to our current point. This review focuses on image domain (or ‘slow’) transients, on timescales of seconds to years. We discuss the physical mechanisms that cause radio variability, and the classes of radio transients that result. We then outline what an ideal image domain radio transients survey would look like, and summarise the history of the field, from targeted observations to surveys with existing radio telescopes. We discuss methods and approaches for transient discovery and classification, and identify some of the challenges in scaling up current methods for future telescopes. Finally, we present our current understanding of the dynamic radio sky, in terms of source populations and transient rates, and look at what we can expect from surveys on future radio telescopes.

High-sensitivity observations of PSR J1919+1745 were conducted using the Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) at a central frequency of 1 250 MHz, enabling a detailed investigation of its single-pulse behaviour. Our research indicates that this pulsar is a normal pulsar, exhibiting null behaviour, subpulse drifting, and occasional bright pulses. Moreover, we observed that the null events tend to be of short duration, with an estimated overall null fraction of approximately $29.5\pm1.1\% $. Through Sliding Fluctuation Spectrum analysis, the modulation period of subpulse drifting is determined to be $P_3=(6.1 \pm 0.7)P_1$ (where $P_1$ denotes the pulsar rotation period), and a non-drifting behaviour is also observed besides this. Analysis using the Harmonic-Resolved Fourier Spectrum indicates that a combination of amplitude modulation and phase modulation causes the subpulse drifting behaviour of this pulsar. Furthermore, the value $P_2$, derived from phase modulation, is approximately $360^\circ / 21 = 17.1^\circ$. polarisation analysis shows a moderate degree of linear polarisation ($37.22\pm0.59\% $), an S-shaped swing in the polarisation position angle, and an approximate $90^\circ$ orthogonal polarisation jump. The radiation characteristics of PSR J1919+1745 will expand the sample of pulsars with pulse null and subpulse drifting, thus contributing to future systematic studies on the physical origins of pulse null and subpulse drifting phenomena.

We report the first observations in a rare family of class II methanol maser transitions in both CH$_3$OH and $^{13}$CH$_3$OH towards three southern high-mass star formation regions, along with the first maser detected in the $^{13}$CH$_3$OH line. The $8_2 \rightarrow 9_1 A^{-}$ methanol transition was observed in both CH$_3$OH and $^{13}$CH$_3$OH (at 28.9 GHz and 41.9 GHz, respectively) towards three sources; G358.93-0.03, NGC6334I, and G345.01+1.79, all of which are star formation regions with recent maser flaring events. We report the first maser detection of the 41.9 GHz line in $^{13}$CH$_3$OH towards G358.93-0.03 and the first confirmed maser detection of the 28.9 GHz line in CH$_3$OH towards NGC6334I. Additionally, we report a maser detection of the 28.9 GHz line in CH$_3$OH towards G358.93-0.03, meaning that with our detection of the 41.9 GHz line, this is the first isotopic detection of these lines towards G358.93-0.03. The newly detected maser transitions are associated with the primary millimetre continuum sources (MM1) in both G358.93-0.03 and NGC6334I, within the varying positional uncertainties.

Bars are ubiquitous morphological features in the observed distribution of galaxies. There are similarly many methods for classifying these features and, without a strict theoretical definition or common standard practice, this is often left to circumstance. So, we were concerned whether astronomers even agree on the bar which they perceive in a given galaxy and whether this could impact perceived scientific results. As an elementary test, we twenty-one astronomers with varied experience in studying resolved galaxies and circumstances, have each assessed 200 galaxy images, spanning the early phase of bar evolution in two different barred galaxy simulations. We find variations exist within the classification of all the standard bar parameters assessed: bar length, axis-ratio, pitch-angle and even whether a bar is present at all. If this is indicative of the wider community, it has implications for interpreting morphological trends, such as bar-end effects. Furthermore, we find that it is surprisingly not expertise but gender, followed by career stage, which gives rise to the largest discrepancies in the reported bar parameters. Currently, automation does not seem to be a viable solution, with bar classifications from two automated bar-finding algorithms tested and failing to find bars in snapshots where most astronomers agree a bar must exist. Increasing dependence on machine learning or crowdsourcing with a training dataset can only serve to obfuscate any existing biases if these originate from the specific astronomer producing the training material. On the strength of this small sample, we encourage an interim best practice to reduce the impact of any possible classification bias and set goals for the community to resolve the issue in the future.

Post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) binary stars are evolved systems that host circumbinary discs formed through mass loss during late stage binary interactions. Their structural, morphological, kinematic, and chemical similarities to planet-forming discs suggest that these systems may act as sites of ‘second-generation’ planet formation. In this study, we assess whether the disc instability mechanism – a proposed pathway for rapid, giant planet formation in some protoplanetary discs - can operate in post-AGB discs; motivated by their short lifetimes ($10^{4-5}$ yr). Using the Toomre criterion under well motivated assumptions for disc structure and size, mass, and thermal properties, we assess the conditions for gravitational instability. We first benchmark our analytical framework using well studied protoplanetary disc systems (including HL Tauri, Elias 2-27, GQ Lupi) before applying the same analysis to observed post-AGB discs. We find that post-AGB discs are generally gravitationally stable at present, due primarily to their low masses. Using viscous disc theory, we find that the discs were stable against collapse even in the past, when their masses were potentially higher. In contrast, several protoplanetary discs analysed in the same way show that they likely experienced gravitationally unstable phases early on. We also find that higher viscosity parameters ($\alpha \sim 10^{-2}$) are better aligned with expected post-AGB disc lifetimes. Finally, we revisit the planet formation scenario proposed for the post-common envelope system NN Ser, first carried out by Schleicher and Dreizler, and we show that gravitational instability could be feasible under specific, high disc mass assumptions. Overall, our results provide the first systematic theoretical assessment of gravitational instability in post-AGB discs, demonstrating that this mechanism is unlikely to dominate second-generation planet formation in these systems and underscoring the need to explore alternative pathways – such as core accretion – in future studies.

With the growing number of gravitational wave detections, achieving a competitive measurement of $H_0$ with dark sirens is becoming increasingly feasible. The expansion of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration into a four detector network will reduce both the localisation area and the luminosity distance uncertainty associated with each gravitational wave event. It is therefore essential to identify and mitigate other major sources of error that could increase the uncertainty in $H_0$. In this work, we explore three scenarios relevant to the dark siren method in future observing runs. First, we demonstrate that there is a precision gain offered by a catalogue of spectroscopic-like redshifts compared to photometric-like redshifts, with the greatest improvements observed in smaller localisation areas. Second, we show that redshift outliers (as occur in realistic photometric redshift catalogues), do not introduce bias into the measurement of $H_0$. Finally, we find that uniformly sub-sampling spectroscopic-like redshift catalogues increases the uncertainty in $H_0$ as the completeness fraction is decreased; at a completeness of 50% the benefit of spectroscopic redshift precision is outweighed by the degradation from incompleteness. In all three scenarios, we obtain unbiased estimates of $H_0$. We conclude that a competitive measurement of $H_0$ using the dark siren method will require a hybrid catalogue of both photometric and spectroscopic redshifts, at least until highly complete spectroscopic catalogues become available. This, however, will come at the cost of a more complex selection function.

We probe the atomic hydrogen (Hi) emission from the host galaxies of fast radio bursts (FRBs) to investigate the emerging trend of disturbance and asymmetry in the population. Quadrupling the sample size, we detect 16 out of 17 new hosts in Hi, with the single non-detection arising in a galaxy known to be transitioning towards quiescence. With respect to typical local Universe galaxies, FRB hosts are generally massive in Hi ( $\gt10^9$ M$_{{\odot}}$), which aligns with previous studies reporting that FRB hosts also tend to have high stellar masses and are star-forming. However, they span a broad range of other Hi derived properties. Using visual inspection alongside various asymmetry metrics, we identify six unambiguously settled host galaxies, demonstrating for the first time that a disturbed Hi morphology is not a universal feature of FRB host galaxies. However, we find another six that show clear signs of disturbance, one borderline case, and three which require deeper or more targeted observations to reach a conclusion; this brings the confirmed ratio of disturbed-to-settled FRB hosts to 11:6. Given that roughly a 1:1 ratio is expected for random background galaxies of similar type, our observed ratio yields a p-value of 0.222. Therefore, we conclude that contrary to earlier indications, there is no statistically significant excess of Hi disturbance in this sample of FRB host galaxies with respect to the general galaxy population, and hence we find no evidence for a fundamental connection between FRB progenitor formation and merger-induced star formation activity.

In this paper we present a wide-field radio survey at 300 MHz covering the sky from $-90^{\circ} \leq \delta_{\text{J2000}} \lesssim {+40}^{\circ}$ using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). This 300-MHz survey follows the Galactic and Extragalactic All-sky MWA (GLEAM) survey and provides an additional comparatively high-frequency data point to existing multi-frequency (72–231 MHz) data. With this data release we provide mosaic images and a catalogue of compact source components. We use two-minute snapshot observations covering 2015–2016, combining overlapping two-minute snapshot images to provide full-sensitivity mosaic images with a median root-mean-square noise of ${9.1_{-2.8}^{+5.5}}$ mJy beam$^{-1}$ and median angular resolution of ${128^{\prime\prime}8} \times {112^{\prime\prime}5}$, with some position-dependent variation. We find a total of 338 080 unique Gaussian components across the mosaic images. The survey is the first at 300 MHz from the MWA covering the whole Southern Hemisphere. It provides a unique spectral data point that complements the existing GLEAM survey and the ongoing GLEAM-eXtended survey and points towards results from the upcoming SKA-Low surveys.

Image reconstruction in very-long baseline interferometry operates under severely sparse aperture coverage with calibration challenges from both the participating instruments and propagation medium, which introduce the risk of biases and artefacts. Interferometric closure invariants offer calibration-independent information on the true source morphology, but the inverse transformation from closure invariants to the source intensity distribution is an ill-posed problem. In this work, we present a generative deep learning approach to tackle the inverse problem of directly reconstructing images from their observed closure invariants. Trained in a supervised manner with simple shapes and the CIFAR-10 dataset, the resulting trained model achieves reduced chi-square data adherence scores of $\chi^2_{\mathrm{CI}} \lesssim 1$ and maximum normalised cross-correlation image fidelity scores of $\rho_{\mathrm{NX}} \gt 0.9$ on tests of both trained and untrained morphologies, where $\rho_{\mathrm{NX}}=1$ denotes a perfect reconstruction. We also adapt our model for the Next Generation Event Horizon Telescope total intensity analysis challenge. Our results on quantitative metrics are competitive to other state-of-the-art image reconstruction algorithms. As an algorithm that does not require finely hand-tuned hyperparameters, this method offers a relatively simple and reproducible calibration-independent imaging solution for very-long baseline interferometry, which ultimately enhances the reliability of sparse very-long baseline radio interferometry imaging results.

Impulsive radio signals such as fast radio bursts (FRBs) are imprinted with the signatures of multi-path propagation through ionised media in the form of frequency-dependent temporal broadening of the pulse profile, commonly referred to as scattering. The dominant source of scattering for most FRBs is expected to be within their host galaxies, an assumption which can be tested by examining potential correlations between the scattering properties of the FRBs and global properties of their hosts. Using results from the Commensal Real-time ASKAP Fast Transient (CRAFT) survey, we investigate correlations across a range of host galaxy properties against attributes of the FRB that encode propagation effects: scattering timescale $\tau$, polarisation fractions, and absolute Faraday rotation measure. From 21 host galaxy properties considered, we find three that are correlated with $\tau$, including the stellar surface density (or compactness; Pearson’s p-value p = 0.002 and Spearman’s p = 0.010), the mass-weighted age (Spearman’s p-value p = 0.009), and a weaker correlation with the gas-phase metallicity (Spearman’s $p = 0.017$). Weakly significant correlations are also found with $H\alpha$ equivalent widths and stellar gravitational potential. From 10 000 trials of reshuffled datasets, we expect two strong Spearman’s correlations only 2% of the time and three weaker correlations in 6.6% of cases. Compact host galaxies may have more ionised content which scatters the FRB further. Compact galaxies were also found to correlate with gas-phase metallicity in our sample, while H ii regions along the line-of-sight are also a potential contributing factor. No correlation is seen with host galaxy inclination, which weakens the case for an inclination bias, as previously suggested for samples of localised FRBs. A strong ($p = 0.002$) correlation is found for absolute rotation measure with optical disc axis ratio b/a; greater rotation measures are seen for edge-on host galaxies. Further high-time resolution FRB detections, coupled with localisation and detailed follow-up on their host galaxies, are necessary to corroborate these initial findings and shed further light into the FRB mechanism.

The impact of galaxy cluster mergers on the properties of the resident galaxies remains poorly understood. In this paper, we investigate the effects of merging environments on star formation (SF) activity in nearby clusters ($0.04\lt z\lt0.06$) from the SAMI Galaxy Survey – A168, A2399, A3880, and EDCC 0442 – which exhibit different dynamical activity. Using single-fibre spectroscopy from the SAMI Cluster Redshift Survey and Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we trace SF activity across the cluster sample by identifying the star-forming galaxy (SFG) population based on spectral features. We find a mild enhancement in the star-forming galaxy fraction ($f_{SFG}$) in merging clusters, although not statistically significant. The spatial and projected phase-space distributions show that SFGs in merging clusters are well-mixed with the passive population, while galaxy populations exhibit a clear segregation in the relaxed clusters. Analysis of the equivalent width of the H$\alpha$ line, as a tracer of recent SF activity, does not reveal strong evidence of triggered SF activity as a function of dynamical state for both the global cluster environment and subsamples of galaxies selected near possible merger features. This suggests that the increase in $f_{SFG}$ is due to the mixing of galaxies in dynamically complex, young merging systems that are still forming, unlike their older, relaxed counterparts that have had longer to quench.

Observational evidence regarding the impact of Active Galactic Nucleu (AGN) feedback on star formation (SF) in non-jetted galaxies is limited. With the available high-resolution UV observations from AstroSat-UVIT, complemented by GALEX, we studied the SF properties in the outskirts ($\gt0.5R_{25}$) of six AGN-host galaxies and compared them with four non-AGN galaxies of similar morphology. We observed a higher SF rate density ($\Sigma_{\text{SFR}}$) for the UV knots in AGN-host galaxies, and it falls off less rapidly compared to non-AGN galaxies, suggesting positive AGN feedback in the outskirts of AGN-host galaxies. Additionally, FUV attenuation (A$_{\text{FUV}}$) is also enhanced in the outer regions and falls less rapidly in AGN-host compared to non-AGN, indicating that the feedback could be coupled with dust. We speculate that the radiation-pressure-driven and/or wind mode AGN feedback could be at play even in low-luminosity nearby AGN-host galaxies.