arXiv subjects

Steven Bloemen

Publications and source records attributed to Steven Bloemen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Discovery of a radio-flaring M dwarf in a commensal transient search of the LADUMA field

We report the discovery and characterisation of MKT J032848.4-271904.6, a new radio transient identified in the LADUMA field using SARAO Science Data Processor (SDP) UHF-band images from approximately one year of MeerKAT observations. Using the Transient Pipeline (TraP) and advanced filtering techniques, we identified a number of candidate variable radio sources in the field. All but one show variability consistent with refractive interstellar scintillation, leaving MKT J032848.4-271904.6 as the sole source exhibiting intrinsic variability. In addition, MKT J032848.4-271904.6 shows intrinsic variability at 0.816 GHz, with 13 radio detections across 41 epochs and a peak flux density of 1.041+/-0.043 mJy. We associate this emission with a low-mass M-dwarf star LP 888-63, located 23 pc from the Sun and identified as a companion to the white dwarf binary system LAWD 14 / WD 0326-273. LP 888-63 displays active flaring behaviour across the electromagnetic spectrum, including multi-band optical data from MeerLICHT. TESS photometry reveals a periodic modulation in the blended light curve of 5.780+/-0.507 days, consistent with rotational variability of a mid-M dwarf. Archival ESO spectra reveal Halpha emission, confirming magnetic activity. These findings highlight the capability of MeerKAT's SDP imaging and facilities like MeerLICHT for real-time detection and characterisation of stellar transients.

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arXiv2026

Proto-NUX: A prototype telescope for ground-based near-ultraviolet observations

The Near-UV-eXplorer (NUX) is a proposed ground-based, wide-field telescope array with a field of view of $\sim$70 square degrees, designed to operate over the 300-350 nm wavelength range and to achieve a target sensitivity of 20 mag in 150 seconds (5 sigma). Its main scientific objective is the detection and characterization of hot, rapidly evolving transients in the near-UV (NUV). Proto-NUX is a pathfinder instrument for NUX, based on an off-the-shelf 36 cm Celestron RASA wide-field astrograph that has been modified to enhance throughput and image quality in the targeted NUV band. The main objectives of Proto-NUX are: (1) to quantify the NUV sensitivity of the prototype and assess the feasibility of the full NUX facility; and (2) to characterize atmospheric extinction in the NUV, including its temporal variability and its dependence on zenith angle. Using three filter configurations, we aim to measure the wavelength dependence of the atmospheric extinction and to disentangle the contributions from Rayleigh scattering (dominating at wavelengths >325 nm) and molecular ozone-dominated absorption (dominating <315 nm). On-site testing is scheduled for 2026 at the Pic du Midi Observatory (France, 2877 m altitude) in order to evaluate on-sky performance under high-altitude observing conditions.

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arXiv2026

A Faint Progenitor System for the Faint Supernova 2024vjm

Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) are well known for their role as standardizable cosmological candles. Their uniformity is credited to their single origin as thermonuclear explosions of White dwarf (WD) stars. Nevertheless, some SNe Ia break this regularity. Prominently, the Iax subclass are less energetic and remarkably diverse, raising questions about their progenitor systems. While no progenitor system of a normal SN Ia has ever been detected, a luminous blue star was identified in pre-explosion images of the site of the bright SN Iax SN 2012Z, suggested to be a helium giant companion star acting as a mass donor to a WD SN progenitor. This is in line with models of weak mass accretion of a WD from a binary companion, producing an explosion that does not fully disrupt the star. However, these models fail to explain the properties of the faintest Type Iax explosions, suggesting either they originate from other WD binary systems, or even from massive progenitor stars. Here, we present the faint SN Iax SN 2024vjm - possibly the faintest supernova observed to date. Using a deep pre-explosion image taken by the recently launched Euclid space mission, we show that its progenitor system must be fainter than the helium giant SN Iax progenitor candidate of SN 2012Z, as well as that of the luminous red companion or remnant of the faint SN 2008ha, and may require a subdwarf helium star as a mass donor. The deep image also provides strong arguments against a massive star origin for this faint supernova. Our observations argue that SN 2024vjm is a WD explosion, but we find that remarkably faint SNe Iax fade more slowly than bright ones, i.e., they evolve in an opposite manner from the famous Phillips relation that makes regular SNe Ia cosmological candles.

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arXiv2025

A catalog to unite them all: REGALADE, a revised galaxy compilation for the advanced detector era

Many applications in transient science, gravitational wave follow-up, and galaxy population studies require all-sky galaxy catalogs with reliable distances, extents, and stellar masses. However, existing catalogs often lack completeness beyond $\sim 100$ Mpc, suffer from stellar contamination, or do not provide homogeneous stellar mass estimates and size information. Our goal is to build a high-purity, high-completeness, all-sky galaxy catalog out to 2,000 Mpc, specifically designed to support time-domain and multi-messenger astrophysics. We combined major galaxy catalogs and deep imaging surveys -- including the Legacy Surveys, Pan-STARRS, DELVE, and SDSS -- and added spectroscopic, photometric, and redshift-independent distances. We cleaned the sample using the Gaia catalog to remove stars and visually inspected all ambiguous cases below 100 Mpc through a classification platform that gathered 27,000 expert votes. Stellar masses were estimated using optical and mid-infrared profile-fit photometry, and we improved the accuracy of photometric distances by combining multiple independent estimates. The resulting catalog, REGALADE, includes nearly 80 million galaxies with distances under 2,000 Mpc. It provides stellar masses for 88% of the sample and ellipse fits for 80%. REGALADE is more than 90% complete for galaxies contributing 50% of the total $r$-band luminosity out to 360 Mpc. In science tests, it recovers 60% more known supernova hosts, doubles the number of low-luminosity transient hosts, and identifies more reliable hosts for ultraluminous and hyper-luminous X-ray sources. REGALADE is one of the most complete and reliable all-sky galaxy catalog to date for the nearby Universe, built for real-world applications in transient and multi-messenger astrophysics. The full dataset, visual classifications, and code will be released to support broad community use.

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arXiv2025

Textual interpretation of transient image classifications from large language models

Modern astronomical surveys deliver immense volumes of transient detections, yet distinguishing real astrophysical signals (for example, explosive events) from bogus imaging artefacts remains a challenge. Convolutional neural networks are effectively used for real versus bogus classification; however, their reliance on opaque latent representations hinders interpretability. Here we show that large language models (LLMs) can approach the performance level of a convolutional neural network on three optical transient survey datasets (Pan-STARRS, MeerLICHT and ATLAS) while simultaneously producing direct, human-readable descriptions for every candidate. Using only 15 examples and concise instructions, Google's LLM, Gemini, achieves a 93% average accuracy across datasets that span a range of resolution and pixel scales. We also show that a second LLM can assess the coherence of the output of the first model, enabling iterative refinement by identifying problematic cases. This framework allows users to define the desired classification behaviour through natural language and examples, bypassing traditional training pipelines. Furthermore, by generating textual descriptions of observed features, LLMs enable users to query classifications as if navigating an annotated catalogue, rather than deciphering abstract latent spaces. As next-generation telescopes and surveys further increase the amount of data available, LLM-based classification could help bridge the gap between automated detection and transparent, human-level understanding.

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arXiv2025

The kangaroo's first hop: the early fast cooling phase of EP250108a/SN 2025kg

Fast X-ray transients (FXTs) are a rare and poorly understood population of events. Previously difficult to detect in real time, the launch of the Einstein Probe with its wide field X-ray telescope has led to a rapid expansion in the sample and allowed the exploration of these transients across the electromagnetic spectrum. EP250108a is a recently detected example linked to an optical counterpart, SN 2025kg, or 'the kangaroo'. Together with a companion paper (Rastinejad et al. 2025), we present our observing campaign and analysis of this event. In this letter, we focus on the early evolution of the optical counterpart over the first six days, including our measurement of the redshift of $z=0.17641$. We find that the source is well-modelled by a rapidly expanding cooling blackbody. We show the observed X-ray and radio properties are consistent with a collapsar-powered jet that is low energy ($\lesssim10^{51}$ erg) and/or fails to break out of the dense material surrounding it. While we examine the possibility that the optical emission emerges from the shock produced as the supernova ejecta expand into a dense shell of circumstellar material, due to our X-ray and radio inferences, we favour a model where it arises from a shocked cocoon resulting from the trapped jet. This makes SN 2025kg one of the few examples of this currently observationally rare event.

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arXiv2024

Hertzsprung gap stars in nearby galaxies and the Quest for Luminous Red Novae Progenitors

After the main sequence phase, stars more massive than 2.5 M$_\odot$ rapidly evolve through the Hertzsprung gap as yellow giants and supergiants (YSG), before settling into the red giant branch. Identifying YSG in nearby galaxies is crucial for pinpointing progenitors of luminous red novae (LRNe) - astrophysical transients attributed to stellar mergers. In the era of extensive transient surveys like the Vera Rubin Observatory's LSST, this approach offers a new way to predict and select common envelope transients. This study investigates potential progenitors and precursors of LRNe by analysing Hubble Space Telescope (HST) photometry of stellar populations in galaxies within 20 Mpc to identify YSG candidates. Additionally, we use ZTF and MeerLICHT/BlackGEM to identify possible precursors, preparing for future observations by the LSST. We compiled a sample of 369 galaxies with HST exposures in the F475W, F555W, F606W, and F814W filters. We identified YSG candidates using MESA stellar evolution tracks and statistical analysis of color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). Our sample includes 154,494 YSG candidates with masses between 3 and 20 $M_\odot$ and is affected by various contaminants, such as foreground stars and extinguished main-sequence stars. After excluding foreground stars using Gaia proper motions, contamination is estimated at 1\% from foreground stars and 20\% from extinction affecting main-sequence stars. Combining our YSG candidates with time-domain catalogs yielded several interesting candidates. Notably, we identified 12 LRN precursor candidates for which followup is encouraged. We highlight the importance of monitoring future transients that match YSG candidates to avoid missing potential LRNe and other rare transients. LSST will be a game changer in the search for LRN progenitors and precursors, discovering over 300,000 new YSG and 100 precursors within 20 Mpc.

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arXiv2024

The Near-Ultraviolet eXplorer (NUX): a ground-based wide-field near-UV telescope to search for near-UV transients

We present the Near-Ultraviolet eXplorer (NUX), which will consist out of 4 small (36 cm diameter) ground-based telescopes that are optimized for the shortest wavelengths that are detectable from Earth (i.e., the near-UV [NUV] wavelength range of 300-350 nm). Each telescope will have a field-of-view of ~17 square degrees sampled at ~2.6"/pixel, and will reach a NUV magnitude (AB) of 20 in 2.5 minutes exposures (in dark time). The goal of NUX is to improve our understanding of the physical processes that power fast (days) to very fast (hours) hot transients, such as shock-breakout and shock-cooling emission of supernovae and the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave events. Each telescope will be an off-the-shelf 14" Celestron RASA telescope, retrofitted with NUV optics. We have already demonstrated that the normal Schmidt corrector of this telescope can be replaced by a custom made one consisting of NUV transparent glass. Currently, a prototype NUX telescope is being fully assembled to demonstrate the technical and scientific feasibility of the NUX concept. Site tests will be held (in 2025/2026) at La Silla, Chile, to determine the NUV characteristics of the atmosphere at this site.

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arXiv2023

Bursts from Space: MeerKAT - The first citizen science project dedicated to commensal radio transients

The newest generation of radio telescopes are able to survey large areas with high sensitivity and cadence, producing data volumes that require new methods to better understand the transient sky. Here we describe the results from the first citizen science project dedicated to commensal radio transients, using data from the MeerKAT telescope with weekly cadence. Bursts from Space: MeerKAT was launched late in 2021 and received ~89000 classifications from over 1000 volunteers in 3 months. Our volunteers discovered 142 new variable sources which, along with the known transients in our fields, allowed us to estimate that at least 2.1 per cent of radio sources are varying at 1.28 GHz at the sampled cadence and sensitivity, in line with previous work. We provide the full catalogue of these sources, the largest of candidate radio variables to date. Transient sources found with archival counterparts include a pulsar (B1845-01) and an OH maser star (OH 30.1-0.7), in addition to the recovery of known stellar flares and X-ray binary jets in our observations. Data from the MeerLICHT optical telescope, along with estimates of long time-scale variability induced by scintillation, imply that the majority of the new variables are active galactic nuclei. This tells us that citizen scientists can discover phenomena varying on time-scales from weeks to several years. The success both in terms of volunteer engagement and scientific merit warrants the continued development of the project, whilst we use the classifications from volunteers to develop machine learning techniques for finding transients.

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arXiv2022

AutoSourceID-Light. Fast Optical Source Localization via U-Net and Laplacian of Gaussian

$\textbf{Aims}$. With the ever-increasing survey speed of optical wide-field telescopes and the importance of discovering transients when they are still young, rapid and reliable source localization is paramount. We present AutoSourceID-Light (ASID-L), an innovative framework that uses computer vision techniques that can naturally deal with large amounts of data and rapidly localize sources in optical images. $\textbf{Methods}$. We show that the AutoSourceID-Light algorithm based on U-shaped networks and enhanced with a Laplacian of Gaussian filter (Chen et al. 1987) enables outstanding performances in the localization of sources. A U-Net (Ronneberger et al. 2015) network discerns the sources in the images from many different artifacts and passes the result to a Laplacian of Gaussian filter that then estimates the exact location. $\textbf{Results}$. Application on optical images of the MeerLICHT telescope demonstrates the great speed and localization power of the method. We compare the results with the widely used SExtractor (Bertin & Arnouts 1996) and show the out-performances of our method. AutoSourceID-Light rapidly detects more sources not only in low and mid crowded fields, but particularly in areas with more than 150 sources per square arcminute.

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arXiv2022

SXP 15.6 -- an accreting pulsar close to spin equilibrium?

SXP 15.6 is a recently established Be star X-ray binary system (BeXRB) in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Like many such systems the variable X-ray emission is driven by the underlying behaviour of the mass donor Be star. It is shown here that the neutron star in this system is exceptionally close to spin equilibrium averaged over several years, with the angular momentum gain from mass transfer being almost exactly balanced by radiative losses. This makes SXP 15.6 exceptional compared to all other known members of its class in the SMC, all of whom exhibit much higher spin period changes. In this paper we report on X-ray observations of the brightest known outburst from this system. These observations are supported by contemporaneous optical and radio observations, as well as several years of historical data.

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arXiv2022

Serendipitous discovery of radio flaring behaviour from a nearby M dwarf with MeerKAT

We report on the detection of MKT J174641.0$-$321404, a new radio transient found in untargeted searches of wide-field MeerKAT radio images centred on the black hole X-ray binary H1743$-$322. MKT J174641.0$-$321404 is highly variable at 1.3 GHz and was detected three times during 11 observations of the field in late 2018, reaching a maximum flux density of 590 $\pm$ 60 $μ$Jy. We associate this radio transient with a high proper motion, M dwarf star SCR~1746$-$3214 12 pc away from the Sun. Multiwavelength observations of this M dwarf indicate flaring activity across the electromagnetic spectrum, consistent with emission expected from dMe stars, and providing upper limits on quiescent brightness in both the radio and X-ray regimes. \textit{TESS} photometry reveals a rotational period for SCR~1746$-$3214 of $0.2292 \pm 0.0025$ days, which at its estimated radius makes the star a rapid rotator, comparable to other low mass systems. Dedicated spectroscopic follow up confirms the star as a mid-late spectral M dwarf with clear magnetic activity indicated by strong H$α$ emission. This transient's serendipitous discovery by MeerKAT, along with multiwavelength characterisation, make it a prime demonstration of both the capabilities of the current generation of radio interferometers and the value of simultaneous observations by optical facilities such as MeerLICHT. Our results build upon the literature of of M dwarfs' flaring behaviour, particularly relevant to the habitability of their planetary systems.

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arXiv2022

Discovery of a double detonation thermonuclear supernova progenitor

We present the discovery of a new double detonation progenitor system consisting of a hot subdwarf B (sdB) binary with a white dwarf companion with an P=76.34179(2) min orbital period. Spectroscopic observations are consistent with an sdB star during helium core burning residing on the extreme horizontal branch. Chimera light curves are dominated by ellipsoidal deformation of the sdB star and a weak eclipse of the companion white dwarf. Combining spectroscopic and light curve fits we find a low mass sdB star, $M_{\rm sdB}=0.383\pm0.028$ M$_\odot$ with a massive white dwarf companion, $M_{\rm WD}=0.725\pm0.026$ M$_\odot$. From the eclipses we find a blackbody temperature for the white dwarf of 26,800 K resulting in a cooling age of $\approx$25 Myrs whereas our MESA model predicts an sdB age of $\approx$170 Myrs. We conclude that the sdB formed first through stable mass transfer followed by a common envelope which led to the formation of the white dwarf companion $\approx$25 Myrs ago. Using the MESA stellar evolutionary code we find that the sdB star will start mass transfer in $\approx$6 Myrs and in $\approx$60 Myrs the white dwarf will reach a total mass of $0.92$ M$_\odot$ with a thick helium layer of $0.17$ M$_\odot$. This will lead to a detonation that will likely destroy the white dwarf in a peculiar thermonuclear supernova. PTF1 2238+7430 is only the second confirmed candidate for a double detonation thermonuclear supernova. Using both systems we estimate that at least $\approx$1% of white dwarf thermonuclear supernovae originate from sdB+WD binaries with thick helium layers, consistent with the small number of observed peculiar thermonuclear explosions.

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arXiv2021

A proto-helium white dwarf stripped by a substellar companion via common-envelope ejection -- Uncovering the true nature of a candidate hypervelocity B-type star

In the past, SDSS J160429.12+100002.2 was spectroscopically classified as a blue horizontal branch (BHB) star. Assuming a luminosity that is characteristic of BHB stars, the object's radial velocity and proper motions from Gaia Early Data Release 3 would imply that its Galactic rest-frame velocity exceeds its local escape velocity. Consequently, the object would be considered a hypervelocity star, which would prove particularly interesting because its Galactic trajectory points in our direction. However, based on the spectroscopic analysis of follow-up observations, we show that the object is actually a short-period ($P \approx 3.4$ h) single-lined spectroscopic binary system with a visible B-type star (effective temperature $T_{\mathrm{eff}} = 15\,840\pm160$ K and surface gravity $\log(g) = 4.86\pm0.04$) that is less luminous than typical BHB stars. Accordingly, the distance of the system is lower than originally thought, which renders its Galactic orbit bound to the Galaxy. Nevertheless, it is still an extreme halo object on a highly retrograde orbit. The abundances of He, C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Al, Si, S, and Ca are subsolar by factors from 3 to more than 100, while Fe is enriched by a factor of about 6. This peculiar chemical composition pattern is most likely caused by atomic diffusion processes. Combining constraints from astrometry, orbital motion, photometry, and spectroscopy, we conclude that the visible component is an unevolved proto-helium white dwarf with a thin hydrogen envelope that was stripped by a substellar companion through common-envelope ejection. Its unique configuration renders the binary system an interesting test bed for stellar binary evolution in general and common-envelope evolution in particular.

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arXiv2021

MeerCRAB: MeerLICHT Classification of Real and Bogus Transients using Deep Learning

Astronomers require efficient automated detection and classification pipelines when conducting large-scale surveys of the (optical) sky for variable and transient sources. Such pipelines are fundamentally important, as they permit rapid follow-up and analysis of those detections most likely to be of scientific value. We therefore present a deep learning pipeline based on the convolutional neural network architecture called $\texttt{MeerCRAB}$. It is designed to filter out the so called 'bogus' detections from true astrophysical sources in the transient detection pipeline of the MeerLICHT telescope. Optical candidates are described using a variety of 2D images and numerical features extracted from those images. The relationship between the input images and the target classes is unclear, since the ground truth is poorly defined and often the subject of debate. This makes it difficult to determine which source of information should be used to train a classification algorithm. We therefore used two methods for labelling our data (i) thresholding and (ii) latent class model approaches. We deployed variants of $\texttt{MeerCRAB}$ that employed different network architectures trained using different combinations of input images and training set choices, based on classification labels provided by volunteers. The deepest network worked best with an accuracy of 99.5$\%$ and Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) value of 0.989. The best model was integrated to the MeerLICHT transient vetting pipeline, enabling the accurate and efficient classification of detected transients that allows researchers to select the most promising candidates for their research goals.

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arXiv2021

Anomalous gas in ESO 149-G003: A MeerKAT-16 View

ESO 149-G003 is a close-by, isolated dwarf irregular galaxy. Previous observations with the ATCA indicated the presence of anomalous neutral hydrogen (HI) deviating from the kinematics of a regularly rotating disc. We conducted follow-up observations with the MeerKAT radio telescope during the 16-dish Early Science programme as well as with the MeerLICHT optical telescope. Our more sensitive radio observations confirm the presence of anomalous gas in ESO 149-G003, and further confirm the formerly tentative detection of an extraplanar HI component in the galaxy. Employing a simple tilted-ring model, in which the kinematics is determined with only four parameters but including morphological asymmetries, we reproduce the galaxy's morphology, which shows a high degree of asymmetry. By comparing our model with the observed HI, we find that in our model we cannot account for a significant (but not dominant) fraction of the gas. From the differences between our model and the observed data cube we estimate that at least 7%-8% of the HI in the galaxy exhibits anomalous kinematics, while we estimate a minimum mass fraction of less than 1% for the morphologically confirmed extraplanar component. We investigate a number of global scaling relations and find that, besides being gas-dominated with a neutral gas-to-stellar mass ratio of 1.7, the galaxy does not show any obvious global peculiarities. Given its isolation, as confirmed by optical observations, we conclude that the galaxy is likely currently acquiring neutral gas. It is either re-accreting gas expelled from the galaxy or accreting pristine intergalactic material.

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arXiv2020

A spectroscopic, photometric, polarimetric and radio study of the eclipsing polar UZ Fornacis: the first simultaneous SALT and MeerKAT observations

We present phase-resolved spectroscopy, photometry and circular spectropolarimetry of the eclipsing polar UZ Fornacis. Doppler tomography of the strongest emission lines using the inside-out projection revealed the presence of three emission regions: from the irradiated face of the secondary star, the ballistic stream and the threading region, and the magnetically confined accretion stream. The total intensity spectrum shows broad emission features and a continuum that rises in the blue. The circularly polarized spectrum shows the presence of three cyclotron emission harmonics at $\sim$4500 Å, 6000 Å and 7700 Å, corresponding to harmonic numbers 4, 3, and 2, respectively. These features are dominant before the eclipse and disappear after the eclipse. The harmonics are consistent with a magnetic field strength of $\sim$57 MG. We also present phase-resolved circular and linear photopolarimetry to complement the spectropolarimetry around the times of eclipse. MeerKAT radio observations show a faint source which has a peak flux density of 30.7 $\pm$ 5.4 $μ$Jy/beam at 1.28 GHz at the position of UZ For.

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arXiv2018

Fast in-database cross-matching of high-cadence, high-density source lists with an up-to-date sky model

Coming high-cadence wide-field optical telescopes will image hundreds of thousands of sources per minute. Besides inspecting the near real-time data streams for transient and variability events, the accumulated data archive is a wealthy laboratory for making complementary scientific discoveries. The goal of this work is to optimise column-oriented database techniques to enable the construction of a full-source and light-curve database for large-scale surveys, that is accessible by the astronomical community. We adopted LOFAR's Transients Pipeline as the baseline and modified it to enable the processing of optical images that have much higher source densities. The pipeline adds new source lists to the archive database, while cross-matching them with the known cataloged sources in order to build a full light-curve archive. We investigated several techniques of indexing and partitioning the largest tables, allowing for faster positional source look-ups in the cross matching algorithms. We monitored all query run times in long-term pipeline runs where we processed a subset of IPHAS data that have image source density peaks over $170,000$ per field of view ($500,000$ deg$^{-2}$). Our analysis demonstrates that horizontal table partitions of declination widths of one-degree control the query run times. Usage of an index strategy where the partitions are densily sorted according to source declination yields another improvement. Most queries run in sublinear time and a few (<20%) run in linear time, because of dependencies on input source-list and result-set size. We observed that for this logical database partitioning schema the limiting cadence the pipeline achieved with processing IPHAS data is 25 seconds.

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