Radio astronomy
Spectral-line observations, calibration, signal extraction, and scientific analysis using single-dish and interferometric data.
FASTMeerKATParkes
Radio astronomy researcher
Listening to the faint signals of the Universe.
I am Yun-Fan Zhou (周芸帆). My research interests lie in radio astronomy and galaxy cosmology, with an emphasis on extracting physical insight from large and complex observational datasets.
Visits since June 2026
Based in China
Open to collaboration
01 / About
From mathematical foundations to the radio sky.
I am a jointly trained Ph.D. student at Hangzhou Dianzi University and the National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences. I received an M.Sc. in Astrophysics from the University of Science and Technology of China and a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics from China University of Geosciences (Beijing).
My work combines radio observations, statistical inference, and scientific software. I have worked with MeerKAT and Parkes data, contributed to the FAST CRAFTS wide-band processing pipeline, and published first-author studies on axion dark matter and low-surface- brightness galaxies.
2
First-author papers
3
Radio facilities
Python
Primary research language
02 / Research
Questions I am interested in
I use radio observations and reproducible data workflows to study fundamental physics and the evolution of galaxies.
Dark matter searches
Observational tests of particle-dark-matter scenarios, including radio signatures of axion conversion around neutron stars.
AxionsNeutron starsBayesian inference
Galaxy cosmology
Neutral hydrogen, low-surface-brightness systems, and the role of diffuse galaxies in the broader picture of galaxy formation.
H IUDGsGalaxy evolution
03 / Publications
Selected publications
Peer-reviewed, first-author work spanning fundamental physics and extragalactic radio astronomy.
2022
Physical Review D · 106, 083006
Searching for axion dark matter with the MeerKAT radio telescope
A 10-hour MeerKAT observation of the isolated neutron star J0806.4−4123 was used to search for narrow radio signatures of axion-photon conversion, constraining the coupling over 3.18–4.35 μeV.
01
2022
Monthly Notices of the RAS · 516, 1781–1787
HIPASS study of southern ultradiffuse galaxies and low surface brightness galaxies
A neutral-hydrogen counterpart search for 409 DES low-surface- brightness galaxies, using HIPASS to examine their distances, gas content, environments, and ultradiffuse-galaxy nature.
02
04 / Experience
Research journey
2025 — Present
Education
Ph.D. Student · Joint Training Program
Hangzhou Dianzi University · National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Pursuing doctoral research through a joint training program, with current interests in radio astronomy and galaxy cosmology.
Supervisors: Rong Li (李蓉) and Haijun Tian (田海俊), HDU; Zheng Zheng (郑征), NAOC.
2022 — 2023
Research experience
Research Assistant
Zhejiang Lab · Hangzhou, China
Contributed Python modules for standing-wave removal, off-source background estimation, baseline removal, and pipeline testing in the FAST CRAFTS wide-band data-processing workflow.
Explore CRAFTS wide-band data on HIverse2019 — 2022
Education
M.Sc. in Astrophysics
University of Science and Technology of China
Conducted first-author research in radio searches for axion dark matter and H I studies of low-surface-brightness galaxies.
2015 — 2019
Education
B.Sc. in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics
China University of Geosciences (Beijing)
Built a foundation in mathematical analysis, modelling, and scientific computation.