SKA Archives

Left panel: Sketch of the V883 Ori outbursting protostar: the luminosity increase of the central source pushes the snowline outwards (from 80 au in the midplane to 160 au in the disk surface layers), releasing iCOMs in gas-phase at dust temperatures > 100 K. However, the dust continuum optical depth in the inner 40 au screens the emission from complex organics despite their expected high column densities after sublimation (adapted from Lee et al., 2019b). Right panel; ALMA observations towards V883 Ori shows a ring of CH3OH emission, because methanol is observed in the region where 𝑇 > 100 K (i.e. inside the snowline) and where the dust optical depth becomes lower than 1, as shown in the sketch. The lower frequencies covered by the SKAO will allow us to probe iCOMS emission in the innermost 40 au region of these disks thanks to the low dust optical depths at cm wavelengths (adapted from Tobin et al., 2023). -- astro-ph.SR

Unveiling Complex Chemistry In Planet-forming Disks With The SKAO

by Keith CowingJuly 4, 2026July 4, 2026

[astro-ph.SR] The chemical composition of planets is inherited from that of the natal protoplanetary disk at the time of planet formation.

Sketch of the dust grain growth and disk structure. The physical processes, observational tech- niques, and disk components depicted are described in Sect. 1. The horizontal axis in the upper panel repre- sents increasing particle size (and implicitly evolutionary time), from micron-sized grains to planetary cores. The disk in the sketch coarsely extends to 30–100 au. The inner part highlights the motion of the ionized gas at (sub-)au scale toward the star following the magnetic field. -- astro-ph.EP

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets

Demographics Of Planet-forming Disks With The SKAO

by Keith CowingJuly 3, 2026July 3, 2026

[astro-ph.EP] Understanding how solid material in planet-forming disks evolves from micron-sized dust to planetary cores is a central challenge in modern astrophysics. This study has advanced dramatically in the past […]

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets

Ultra-Precise Astrometric Search For Exoplanets With SKA-VLBI

by Keith CowingJuly 2, 2026July 2, 2026

[astro-ph.EP] The study of exoplanets is a rapidly developing field, driven by the discoveries of Kepler and TESS, among others. The recent detection of Jovian planetary companions of low-mass stars […]

With the SKA we can open up a wide range of sensitive searches for technosignatures of various types and styles. Although most searches involve looking continuos narrowband signals, as we develop the SETI field and SKA capabilities come online, we can expand the search to cover more parameter space. The green circles represent active areas of research and are discussed in this chapter, the yellow are areas of research currently under investigation, and the red circles are search types we hope to explore as more SKA capabilities come online. -- astro-ph.IM

SETI & Technosignatures

Searching For Extraterrestrial Intelligence With The SKA

by Keith CowingJune 29, 2026June 29, 2026

[astro-ph.IM] The search for technosignatures (also known as the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence or SETI) depends critically on our ability to distinguish artificial signals from the rich complexity of natural […]

Characteristics of 80 confirmed exoplanets. Exoplanets exhibiting detectable radio signals are highlighted in different colors. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Status Report

Exploring Radio Emissions from Confirmed Exoplanets Using SKA

by Keith CowingApril 24, 2024April 24, 2024

Currently, our understanding of magnetic fields in exoplanets remains limited compared to those within our solar system. Planets with magnetic fields emit radio signals primarily due to the Electron Cyclotron […]

Astrochemistry

Complex organic molecules in protostellar environments in the SKA era

by Keith CowingJanuary 10, 2015

Molecular complexity builds up at each step of the Sun-like star formation process, starting from simple molecules and ending up in large polyatomic species. Complex organic molecules (COMs; such as […]