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A deep MeerKAT search for neutral hydrogen in, and lensed by, dense environments

Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2020.

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Other Authors: Deane, Roger
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2021
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Deane, Roger
author_browse Deane, Roger
author_facet Deane, Roger
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2020.
format Thesis
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:37:07.698Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2021
publishDateRange 2021
publishDateSort 2021
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/78541 A deep MeerKAT search for neutral hydrogen in, and lensed by, dense environments Deane, Roger shilparanchod@gmail.com Ranchod, Shilpa Radio Astronomy UCTD Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2020. Neutral hydrogen (HI) is a key ingredient in galaxy formation and an excellent tracer of galaxy evolution and the environmental drivers thereof. HI volume density varies significantly with environment, where denser environments (i.e. galaxy groups and clusters) are comparatively HI deficient, but it is not well understood how HI volume density varies over cosmic time. The investigation of the change in HI volume density with these variables, assists in constraining galaxy evolution models. Due to sensitivity limits, HI has not been studied in detail beyond z ~ 0.2, except for objects at the extreme high-end of the HI mass function. With the exceptional sensitivity of MeerKAT, we are now able to explore HI at higher redshifts (z < 0.5 with L-band receivers), and detect a large number of galaxies in a single observation ( > 10), due to MeerKAT’s large field-of-view. This project serves as an exploratory HI study with the new MeerKAT instrument, of a low-redshift, HI-rich galaxy group (z = 0.044), three intermediate-redshift galaxy clusters (0.3 < z < 0.4), and the utilisation of gravitational lensing to search for magnified HI emission behind these clusters to z < 0.5. We present the discovery of a galaxy group in the XMMLSS field, containing 11 HI galaxies, as part of the MIGHTEE Early Science observations. This shows the success of blind HI searches for the discovery of HI groups, and the capacity for the dynamical and morphological studies of resolved HI in groups with MeerKAT. The MeerKAT Galaxy Cluster Legacy Survey sample includes three of the Hubble Frontier Field (HFF) clusters, Abell 2744, Abell S1063 and Abell 370. We perform blind HI emission searches, and HI spectral stacking, a statistical technique used to amplify the signal of low S/N spectra, on these clusters. We present a 7 sigma stacked detection for blue galaxies in Abell S1063, and calculate HI mass detection limits for Abell 2744 and Abell 370. In the blind and targeted searches for HI behind the HFF clusters, we detect no evidence of highly magnified HI emission within the limits of the MeerKAT L-band. The low thermal noise levels achieved in this work, despite short integration times, highlights the enormous potential of future MeerKAT HI observations of dense environments and the intermediate-redshift Universe. NRF/SARAO Physics MSc Restricted 2021-02-12T11:37:16Z 2021-02-12T11:37:16Z 2021-04 2020-12 Dissertation * A2021 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/78541 en © 2019 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Radio Astronomy
UCTD
A deep MeerKAT search for neutral hydrogen in, and lensed by, dense environments
title A deep MeerKAT search for neutral hydrogen in, and lensed by, dense environments
title_full A deep MeerKAT search for neutral hydrogen in, and lensed by, dense environments
title_fullStr A deep MeerKAT search for neutral hydrogen in, and lensed by, dense environments
title_full_unstemmed A deep MeerKAT search for neutral hydrogen in, and lensed by, dense environments
title_short A deep MeerKAT search for neutral hydrogen in, and lensed by, dense environments
title_sort deep meerkat search for neutral hydrogen in and lensed by dense environments
topic Radio Astronomy
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/78541