Radio astronomy

Radio continuum emission has been demonstrated to be an excellent tracer of recent star formation, yet current understanding remains empirical, and is primarily based upon integrated multi-frequency or resolved mono-chromatic radio continuum studies. In this thesis, we gain furt…

The high time-resolution radio sky represents unexplored astronomical territory where the discovery potential is high. In this thesis I have studied the transient radio sky, focusing on millisecond scales. As such, this work is concerned primarily with neutron stars, the most po…

Radio observations of actively accreting supermassive black holes outside of the galaxy can provide insight into the history of galaxies and their evolution. With the construction of fast new radio telescopes and the undertaking of large new radio surveys in the lead-up to the S…

This study on the ethnobotany of Southern Bushmanland, that forms part of the greater Nama-Karoo biome, was underpinned by eight hypotheses, namely (a) that the Matrix Method is the most effective method to record the ethnobotany of the region; (b) the uses of plants for medicin…