The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/Virgo GW170817. I. Discovery of the Optical Counterpart Using the Dark Energy Camera

Soares-Santos, M.; Holz, D. E.; Annis, J.; Chornock, R.; Herner, K.; Berger, E.; Brout, Dillon; Chen, H.-Y.; Keßler, R.; Šako, M.; Allam, S.; Tucker, D. L.; Butler, Robert E.; Palmese, A.; Doctor, Z.; Diehl, H. T.; Frieman, J.; Yanny, B.; Lin, H.; Scolnic, D.; Cowperthwaite, P. S.; Neilsen, Eric H.; Marriner, J.; Kuropatkin, N.; Hartley, W G; Paz-Chinchón, F.; Alexander, K. D.; Balbinot, E.; Blanchard, P. K.; Brown, D.; Carlin, Jeffrey L.; Conselice, Christopher J.; Cook, Erika; Drlica-Wagner, A.; Drout, M. R.; Durret, F.; Eftekhari, Tarraneh; Farr, B.; Finley, D. A.; Foley, R. J.; Fong, Wen‐fai; Fryer, Chris L.; García-Bellido, J.; Gill, M. S. S.; Gruendl, R. A.; Hanna, C.; Kasen, Daniel; Li, T. S.; Lopes, P. A. A.; Lourenço, A. C. C.; Margutti, R.; Marshall, J. L.; Matheson, T.; Medina, G. E.; Metzger, Brian D.; Muñoz, R. R.; Muir, J.; Nicholl, M.; Quataert, Eliot; Rest, A.; Sauseda, M.; Schlegel, David J.; Secco, L. F.; Sobreira, F.; Stebbins, Albert; Villar, V. Ashley; Vivas, A. K.; Walker, A. R.; Wester, W. C.; Williams, Paul; Zenteno, A.; Zhang, Y.; Abbott, T. M. C.; Abdalla, F. B.; Banerji, M.; Bechtol, K.; Benoit-Lévy, A.; Bertin, E.; Brooks, D.; Buckley-Geer, E.; Burke, D. L.; Rosell, A. Carnero; Kind, M. Carrasco; Carretero, J.; Castander, F. J.; Crocce, M.; Cunha, C. E.; D’Andrea, C. B.; Costa, L. N. da; Davis, C.; Desai, S.; Dietrich, J. P.; Doel, P.; Eifler, T. F.; Fernandez, E.; Flaugher, B.; Fosalba, P.; Gaztañaga, E.; Gerdes, D. W.; Giannantonio, T.; Goldstein, D. A.; Gruen, D.; Gschwend, J.; Gutierrez, G.; Honscheid, Klaus; Jain, B.; James, D. J.; Jeltema, T.; Johnson, M. W. G.; Johnson, M. D.; Kent, S.; Krause, E.; Kron, Richard G.; Kuehn, K.; Kuhlmann, S.; Lahav, O; Lima, M.; Maia, M. A. G.; March, M.; McMahon, R. G.; Menanteau, F.; Miquel, R.; Mohr, J. J.; Nichol, R. C.; Nord, B.; Ogando, R. L. C.; Petravick, D.; Plazas, A. A.; Romer, A. K.; Roodman, A.; Rykoff, E. S.; Sánchez, E.; Scarpine, V.; Schubnell, M; Sevilla-Noarbe, I.; Smith, M.; Smith, R. C.; Suchyta, E.; Swanson, M E C; Tarlé, G.; Thomas, D.; Thomas, R. C.; Troxel, M. A.; Vikram, V.; Wechsler, Risa H.; Weller, J.

doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aa9059

articleThe Astrophysical Journal LettersOct 16, 2017BRONZE OA

The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/Virgo GW170817. I. Discovery of the Optical Counterpart Using the Dark Energy Camera

MSM. Soares-Santos DED. E. Holz JAJ. Annis RCR. Chornock KHK. Herner

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory · Brandeis University · +63 more institutions

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Abstract

Abstract We present the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) discovery of the optical counterpart of the first binary neutron star merger detected through gravitational-wave emission, GW170817. Our observations commenced 10.5 hr post-merger, as soon as the localization region became accessible from Chile. We imaged 70 deg 2 in the i and z bands, covering 93% of the initial integrated localization probability, to a depth necessary to identify likely optical counterparts (e.g., a kilonova). At 11.4 hr post-merger we detected a bright optical transient located from the nucleus of NGC 4993 at redshift z = 0.0098, consistent (for km s −1 Mpc −1 ) with the distance of 40 ± 8 Mpc reported by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration…

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Topics & keywords

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Keywords

Physics
Kilonova
Astrophysics
LIGO
Neutron star
Gravitational wave
Astronomy
Absolute magnitude

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