The Widefield ASKAP L-band Legacy All-sky Blind surveY (WALLABY) is a next-generation survey of neutral hydrogen (H I) in the Local Universe. It uses the widefield, high-resolution capability of the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), a radio interferometer consisting of 36 × 12-m dishes equipped with Phased-Array Feeds (PAFs), located in an extremely radioquiet zone in Western Australia. WALLABY aims to survey three-quarters of the sky (−90 • < δ < +30 • ) to a redshift of z 0.26, and generate spectral line image cubes at ∼30 arcsec resolution and ∼1.6 mJy beam −1 per 4 km s −1 channel sensitivity. ASKAP's instantaneous field of view at 1.4 GHz, delivered by the PAF's 36 beams, is about 30 sq deg. At an integrated signal-to-noise ratio of five, WALLABY is expected to detect around half a million galaxies with a mean redshift of z ∼ 0.05 (∼200 Mpc). The scientific goals of WALLABY include: (a) a census of gas-rich galaxies in the vicinity of the Local Group; (b) a study of the H I properties of galaxies, groups and clusters, in particular the influence of the environment on galaxy evolution; and (c) the refinement of cosmological parameters using the spatial and redshift distribution of low-bias gas-rich galaxies. For context we provide an overview of recent and planned large-scale H I surveys. Combined with existing and new multi-wavelength sky surveys, WALLABY will enable an exciting new generation of panchromatic studies of the Local Universe. -First results from the WALLABY pilot survey are revealed, with initial data products publicly available in the CSIRO ASKAP Science Data Archive (CASDA).

We present a new calibration of the peak absolute magnitude of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) based on the surface brightness fluctuations (SBF) method, aimed at measuring the value of the Hubble constant. We build a sample of calibrating anchors consisting of 24 SNe hosted in galaxies that have SBF distance measurements. Applying a hierarchical Bayesian approach, we calibrate the SN Ia peak luminosity and extend the Hubble diagram into the Hubble flow by using a sample of 96 SNe Ia in the redshift range 0.02 < z < 0.075, which was extracted from the Combined Pantheon Sample. We estimate a value of H0 = 70.50 ± 2.37 (stat.) ± 3.38 (sys.) km s−1 Mpc−1 (i.e., 3.4% stat., 4.8% sys.), which is in agreement with the value obtained using the tip of the red giant branch calibration. It is also consistent, within errors, with the value obtained from SNe Ia calibrated with Cepheids or the value inferred from the analysis of the cosmic microwave background. We find that the SNe Ia distance moduli calibrated with SBF are on average larger by 0.07 mag than those calibrated with Cepheids. Our results point to possible differences among SNe in different types of galaxies, which could originate from different local environments and/or progenitor properties of SNe Ia. Sampling different host galaxy types, SBF offers a complementary approach to using Cepheids, which is important in addressing possible systematics. As the SBF method has the ability to reach larger distances than Cepheids, the impending entry of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and JWST into operation will increase the number of SNe Ia hosted in galaxies where SBF distances can be measured, making SBF measurements attractive for improving the calibration of SNe Ia, as well as in the estimation of H0.

The neutral atomic hydrogen (H i) content of spiral galaxies has been observed to vary with environment, with more H i-deficient spirals residing in high density environments. This can be attributed to environmental effects such as ram pressure stripping and tidal interactions, which remove H i from the discs of galaxies. However, some spirals in low-density environments have also been observed to have relatively low H i mass fractions. The low densities of the Intra Galactic Medium and lack of nearby galaxies in such environments make ram pressure stripping and tidal interactions unlikely candidates of gas removal. What then could be making these spirals H i deficient? Obreschkow et al. introduced a parameter-free model for the neutral atomic gas fraction (f atm ), in a symmetric equilibrium disc as a function of the global atomic stability parameter (q), which depends on specific angular momentum. In order to examine if this model accounts for H i-deficient galaxies in low-density environments, we have used the M H i − M R scaling relation to select six H i-deficient spiral galaxies and observed them with the ATCA. By measuring their f atm and q values we find that the galaxies owe their observed H i deficiencies to low specific angular momenta. Additionally, we also find that the central H i hole sizes of our sample galaxies are related to their q values, following the prediction of Obreschkow et al. This result brings to light the importance of angular momentum in understanding the physics of the interstellar medium in the discs of galaxies and consequently their evolution.