Description
The MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa is a relatively new pathfinder of the Square Kilometre Array and is currently the most sensitive radio interferometer for neutral hydrogen (HI) studies with the 21-cm line. In this talk I present recent results and ongoing research from MeerKAT observations showcasing its strengths in this area. One set of results comes from follow-up of fast radio bursts (FRBs), which are very bright bursts of energy on short (~millisecond) timescales with unknown progenitors. HI studies can give us vital clues on what could create FRBs by illuminating the environment of their host galaxies. I also demonstrate how this approach can be used to give us FRB distance measurements in the absence of optical spectroscopic measurements, particularly for FRBs detected through the Galactic plane. I will also introduce the 49ers, a serendipitous discovery of 49 new gas-rich galaxies in an unrelated MeerKAT observation, and highlight the wealth of similar discoveries now numbering 100+ hiding in other MeerKAT datasets such as a dark galaxy candidate.
