Speaker: Dr. Dillon Dong, National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Date/Time: December 6, 2024 / 12 noon central.
Location: NCSA, 1040.
Zoom: https://illinois.zoom.us/j/82318062756?pwd=M3g1MFF6cytsOWFEbmU0UW1XWVoxQT09
Title: A preview of the VLA Sky Survey transient catalog
Abstract: By October 2024, the VLA Sky Survey (VLASS) will have completed its third full epoch, observing ~34,000 deg^2 of the northern sky at a frequency of 3 GHz, a sub-mJy (7σ) sensitivity, and a resolution of ~2.5 arcseconds, for the third time since 2017.
One of the main science goals of VLASS is to uncover the diversity of phenomena in the dynamic radio sky. In this talk, I will give an overview of the several thousand slow radio transients that VLASS has detected to date: how they were discovered, what types of multi-wavelength counterparts they are (and aren’t) associated with, and what they might teach us about the astrophysical particle accelerators that emitted them. With the scale of the VLASS sample, we are starting to assemble a statistical picture of common transient classes, including radio supernovae, AGN flares, tidal disruption events, and magnetic activity in stars. For each of these classes, I will discuss their rates and properties, and how they might open new windows on classic problems such as massive stellar evolution, the growth of supermassive black holes, and the properties of strongly magnetized stars.
