Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger
By B. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. Abbott, F. Acernese, K. Ackley, C. Adams, T. Adams, P. Addesso, Rana X. Adhikari, V. Adya and 3,508 more. Proceedings of Multifrequency Behaviour of High Energy Cosmic Sources - XIII — PoS(MULTIF2019), 2019
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On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ∼ 1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40 − 8 + 8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 M ⊙ . An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ∼ 40 Mpc ) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One-Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ∼10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ∼ 9 and ∼ 16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC 4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta.
Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics
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Citations in the corpus
- Combined Constraints on the Equation of State of Dense Neutron-rich Matter from Terrestrial Nuclear Experiments and Observations of Neutron Stars (2018, background): “Interestingly, Abbott et al. (2017) inferred that the dimensionless tidal deformability of GW170817 has an upper limit of Λ1.”
- The astrophysics of nanohertz gravitational waves (2018, methodology): “Myriad new tests of gravity have become possible with GW observations (e. g., Abbott et al. 2017g; Chatziioannou et al. 2012; Eardley et al. 1973b; Yunes and Pretorius 2009; Yunes and Siemens 2013).”
- KAGRA: 2.5 generation interferometric gravitational wave detector (2018, positive): “The distance and location of GW170817 was narrowed down to 40 ± 8 Mpc and about 30 deg 2 in the sky by the LIGO-Virgo observation, allowing astronomers to identify electromagnetic counterparts and the host Galaxy (NGC 4993) [13].”
- From hadrons to quarks in neutron stars: a review (2017, methodology): “We turn now to the implications of the unified construction of the equation of state (QHC18) on astrophysical properties of neutron stars, and the constraints indicated by current observations, notably the measurements of the two neutron stars with masses ∼ 2M [41, 42], early inferences of the mass-”