Transients
Transients Science Working Group Introduction
The SKA Science Working Group on The Transient Universe aims to explore what variable and one-off astrophysical signals can teach us about topics ranging from stellar evolution and relativistic astrophysics to cosmology. Transient radio signals point to the sites of the most extreme phenomena in our Universe: e.g. supernovae, merging neutron stars, and the ultra-relativistic jets from accreting black holes. They give us unique insight into fundamental physics and through propagation effects in the radio signal they allow us to probe the intervening ionized and magnetized material that would otherwise be invisible to us.

Working Group Membership
Members of the the Transients Science Working group can be found here
We actively encourage interested researchers to participate in the working group.
Please contact the co-chairs if you are interested in joining the group, with a brief description of your area of research.
The current co-chairs are:
- Jason Hessels (ASTRON, Netherlands), J.W.T.Hessels@uva.nl
- Patrick Woudt (UCT, South Africa), pwoudt@ast.uct.ac.za
Guidelines on who can join the group can be found here
The SKAO Project Scientist liaison is Harry Qiu.
Related 2015 “Advancing Astrophysics with the Square Kilometre Array” Chapters
- See appropriate section here
Related 2004 “Science with the Square Kilometre Array” Chapters
- “The dynamic radio sky” Cordes et al.
- “The exploration of the unknown” Wilkinson et al.
Previous Chairs
- Michael Rupen (2015-2020)
- Jean-Pierre Macquart (RIP) (2015-2017)
- Rob Fender (2013-2015)