LADUMA First Data Release: What we have found so far

Special Colloquium
Dr. Abhisek Mohapatra
SCHEDULED
University of Cape Town

One of the fundamental questions in astrophysics is how galaxies form and evolve across cosmic time. At the heart of this lies neutral hydrogen (HI) — the raw material for star formation and a key component of the baryon cycle. With powerful new radio telescopes like MeerKAT, we can now push the frontier beyond the local Universe. In this talk, I’ll introduce the LADUMA survey — Looking at the Distant Universe with the MeerKAT Array — the deepest HI survey from the MeerKAT. LADUMA focuses on a single field, with 300 hours of L-band observations (probing HI to z < 0.6) and a planned 3000 hours in UHF-band (extending to z ~ 1.4). From our first 127 hours of L-band data, we have detected HI in about 240 galaxies out to redshift ~0.5. These direct detections allow us to trace the distribution and evolution of HI in galaxies over time. By combining LADUMA’s deep HI data with rich multi-wavelength surveys, we’re beginning to piece together how galaxies acquire, retain, and deplete their gas. I’ll share some of our initial results and discuss what they reveal about the role of HI in galaxy evolution, and how LADUMA is poised to transform our view of the distant Universe.

TBD

Main Colloquium
Dr. Antonia Rowlinson
SCHEDULED
University of Amsterdam and ASTRON

TBD