Pulsar Astronomer | Astrophysicist | UCT lecturer
I am a lecturer at the beautiful University of Cape Town in South Africa, in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics and part of the High Energy Physics, Cosmology and Astrophysics Theory (HEPCAT) team.
I have a background in Theoretical Physics, and since my Master's and PhD studies I have become evermore involved with Astrophysics and observational Radio Astronomy. Before my recent return to academia, I worked as a Operations Scientist at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO), where I got to be a part of the development of the groundbreaking and science-eager radio telescope called MeerKAT. You can keep up to date with the latest MeerKAT developments on the SARAO official website here.
My current research interests as part of the Meertime collaboration include studying pulsar characteristics and conducting pulsar timing. Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars that emit beamed radio emission. We observe the signals from these blitzing objects as periodic pulses using the MeerKAT telescope.
Where Meertime studies the pulsars we already know of in mystifying detail, the TRAPUM project, looks to find new ones. We search for the tell-tale metronomic signatures of pulsars in especially the dense stellar populations of Globular Clusters and in Galaxies in the neighbourhood of the Milky Way.
I am passionate about the promotion and development of science and specifically Astrophysics in South Africa. The MeerKAT and upcoming SKAO project offers wonderful job opportunities for new young lovers of maths and science that want to study the universe's puzzles.
Pulsars are born in supernova explosions when massive stars end their lives. What remains in the explosive debris is a small, but extremely dense, dead stellar core spinning rapidly around its axis emitting radio beams from its magnetic poles. These flashing beams are picked up as a series of repeating radio pulses by our telescopes. Pulsars are the metronomes of the night skies.
The Meertime pulsar timing project running on MeerKAT has already eagerly observed and timed more than a 1000 of these radio clocks, smashing records for the precision with which they are timed. Ultimately, we aim to time a network of pulsars (a pulsar timing array) to search for gravitational waves disturbing their clockwork.
Observations of these often once-off, but sometimes repeating, luminous radio bursts show that they have traveled from distant galaxies to meet our telescopes.
The TRAPUM programme on MeerKAT scans the skies regularly for new Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), and has discovered a handful already! With the overall number of known FRBs currently increasing from month to month, we hope to learn a lot more about what creates these mysterious events.
If you want to hear more about the current status of FRBs, you can listen to this episode on the Cosmic Savannah podcast.
Pulsar signals travel through the Interstellar Medium (ISM) before they reach our telescopes. Electrons adrift in this medium will impart their signature on pulsar signals by slowing down the radio signal and scattering it along multiple pathways.
By studying the effect of the ISM on pulsar signals we get to learn more about the ISM. We are finding that the nearby ISM has more small dense electron clouds than previously expected.
Could we tell from observations if black holes were not as smooth and simple as the standard Kerr model shows? By observing pulsars as probes in orbit around super massive black holes (SMBH) closely, we hope to one day do so. But first we need to catch a pulsar around a SMBH! Fingers crossed that the SKA will find one, perhaps even in the Milky Way.
All the content and recordings of an in-person pulsar timing workshop, held at North West University in September 2023, can be found on this website. Credit to Dr Tiaan Bezuidenhout for this detailed product! Have a look at his comprehensive list of helpful online resources on the site.
This two-day MeerKAT workshop, held in September 2021, provides an introduction to pulsar timing through lecturing and online tutorials.
You can view the lectures, tutorial and data on the SARAO E-learning platform.
This podcast by Dr Daniel Cunnama (SAAO) and Dr Jacinta Delhaize (UCT) will keep you up to date with the exciting Astronomy developments under African skies!
In Episode 40 you will hear me speak about Fast Radio Bursts.
The SARAO E-learning portal hosts an array of online videos, that can also be viewed on the SARAO Web YouTube Channel.
This includes an introductory course in Radio Interferometry under the African Radio Interferometry Winter School material.
I am passionate about science development and communication, and salute the wonderful work done by Astro Molo Mhlaba and the Office of Astronomy for Development.
As a former journalism student, I also enjoy telling research stories in everyday language. Especially the sagas of our night skies!
Please get in touch if you are seeking volunteers for science and astronomy education, or if you require wordsmith assistance to help unravel scientific concepts.
Recent positions
2023 - | Lecturer at UCT Mathematics and Applied Mathematics & researcher in HEPCAT
2022 - | Honorary Research Affiliate at UCT Dept of Astronomy
2021 - Jan 2023 | Operations Scientist for MeerKAT at SARAO
2017 - 2021 | Associate Commissioning Scientist for MeerKAT at SARAO
Academic qualifications
2014 - 2017 | DPhil in Astrophysics at Oxford University, UK
2011 - 2013 | MSc in Theoretical Physics at Stellenbosch University, SA
2010 | BPhil in Journalism at Stellenbosch University, SA
2009 | Hons BSc in Nuclear Physics at Stellenbosch University, SA
2006 - 2008 | BSc Laser Physics at Stellenbosch University, SA
South Africa is a birder's paradise. See some of my favourite recent snapshots below.
Marisageyer
MEERKAT telescope IMage credits: SARAO
All other image credits: COPYRIGHT © 2023 MARISA GEYER
Copyright © 2023 Marisa geyer - All Rights Reserved.
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