Exploring the Extreme Magnetized Universe with ASKAP/VAST

A new generation of telescopes is surveying large areas of sky repeatedly, making ``cosmic movies'' and discovering rare but exciting new objects. At radio wavelengths, some sources that have been found recently are pushing the frontiers of our understanding of the Universe. In particular, long period transients show pulsar-like emission but with periods hundreds or thousands of times longer than normal. They seem to require a new energy source other than rotation or normal magnetic behavior, and they might have connections to exciting objects like magnetars. The Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) opens up a new realm for exploration through the Variables and Slow Transients (VAST) project. VAST systematically searches the most interesting parts of the sky for changing and new radio sources. This research team will discover new objects and then work to determine where they come from, what powers them, and how different classes are related. All stages in this work will provide undergraduate and graduate students research opportunities and specialized training, including exploration of large data sets and machine learning techniques. The proposed program will use repeated coverage of the Galactic plane from the ASKAP VAST survey, as well as commensal access to other ASKAP data, to identified polarized radio transients. The team will study individual sources, including followup at radio and optical wavelengths,to determine their properties. They will assemble these discoveries into models for the different populations and then identify methods for finding new pulsars and similar sources that can be applied to future facilities like DSA-2000. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.