Follow Up of GW170817 and Its Electromagnetic Counterpart by Australian-Led Observing Programmes
The discovery of the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave signal has generated follow-up observations by over 50 facilities world-wide, ushering in the new era of multi-messenger astronomy. In this paper, we present follow-up observations of the gravitational wave event GW170817...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Cambridge University Press
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/61575 |
| _version_ | 1848760695544348672 |
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| author | Anderson, Gemma Bland, Philip Booler, Tom Crosse, Brian Cupák, Martin de Gois, J.S. Devillepoix, Hadrien Emrich, David Franzen, Thomas Hancock, Paul Hartig, Ben Horsley, L. Howie, Robert Kenney, David Paxman, Jonathan Sansom, Eleanor Shannon, Ryan Sokolowski, Marcin Steele, K. Tingay, Steven Towner, Martin Trott, Cathryn Walker, Mia Wayth, Randall Williams, Andrew |
| author_facet | Anderson, Gemma Bland, Philip Booler, Tom Crosse, Brian Cupák, Martin de Gois, J.S. Devillepoix, Hadrien Emrich, David Franzen, Thomas Hancock, Paul Hartig, Ben Horsley, L. Howie, Robert Kenney, David Paxman, Jonathan Sansom, Eleanor Shannon, Ryan Sokolowski, Marcin Steele, K. Tingay, Steven Towner, Martin Trott, Cathryn Walker, Mia Wayth, Randall Williams, Andrew |
| author_sort | Anderson, Gemma |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The discovery of the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave signal has generated follow-up observations by over 50 facilities world-wide, ushering in the new era of multi-messenger astronomy. In this paper, we present follow-up observations of the gravitational wave event GW170817 and its electromagnetic counterpart SSS17a/DLT17ck (IAU label AT2017gfo) by 14 Australian telescopes and partner observatories as part of Australian-based and Australian-led research programs. We report early- to late-time multi-wavelength observations, including optical imaging and spectroscopy, mid-infrared imaging, radio imaging, and searches for fast radio bursts. Our optical spectra reveal that the transient source emission cooled from approximately 6 400 K to 2 100 K over a 7-d period and produced no significant optical emission lines. The spectral profiles, cooling rate, and photometric light curves are consistent with the expected outburst and subsequent processes of a binary neutron star merger. Star formation in the host galaxy probably ceased at least a Gyr ago, although there is evidence for a galaxy merger. Binary pulsars with short (100 Myr) decay times are therefore unlikely progenitors, but pulsars like PSR B1534+12 with its 2.7 Gyr coalescence time could produce such a merger. The displacement (~2.2 kpc) of the binary star system from the centre of the main galaxy is not unusual for stars in the host galaxy or stars originating in the merging galaxy, and therefore any constraints on the kick velocity imparted to the progenitor are poor. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:19:52Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-61575 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:19:52Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-615752019-06-28T04:51:04Z Follow Up of GW170817 and Its Electromagnetic Counterpart by Australian-Led Observing Programmes Anderson, Gemma Bland, Philip Booler, Tom Crosse, Brian Cupák, Martin de Gois, J.S. Devillepoix, Hadrien Emrich, David Franzen, Thomas Hancock, Paul Hartig, Ben Horsley, L. Howie, Robert Kenney, David Paxman, Jonathan Sansom, Eleanor Shannon, Ryan Sokolowski, Marcin Steele, K. Tingay, Steven Towner, Martin Trott, Cathryn Walker, Mia Wayth, Randall Williams, Andrew The discovery of the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave signal has generated follow-up observations by over 50 facilities world-wide, ushering in the new era of multi-messenger astronomy. In this paper, we present follow-up observations of the gravitational wave event GW170817 and its electromagnetic counterpart SSS17a/DLT17ck (IAU label AT2017gfo) by 14 Australian telescopes and partner observatories as part of Australian-based and Australian-led research programs. We report early- to late-time multi-wavelength observations, including optical imaging and spectroscopy, mid-infrared imaging, radio imaging, and searches for fast radio bursts. Our optical spectra reveal that the transient source emission cooled from approximately 6 400 K to 2 100 K over a 7-d period and produced no significant optical emission lines. The spectral profiles, cooling rate, and photometric light curves are consistent with the expected outburst and subsequent processes of a binary neutron star merger. Star formation in the host galaxy probably ceased at least a Gyr ago, although there is evidence for a galaxy merger. Binary pulsars with short (100 Myr) decay times are therefore unlikely progenitors, but pulsars like PSR B1534+12 with its 2.7 Gyr coalescence time could produce such a merger. The displacement (~2.2 kpc) of the binary star system from the centre of the main galaxy is not unusual for stars in the host galaxy or stars originating in the merging galaxy, and therefore any constraints on the kick velocity imparted to the progenitor are poor. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/61575 10.1017/pasa.2017.65 Cambridge University Press restricted |
| spellingShingle | Anderson, Gemma Bland, Philip Booler, Tom Crosse, Brian Cupák, Martin de Gois, J.S. Devillepoix, Hadrien Emrich, David Franzen, Thomas Hancock, Paul Hartig, Ben Horsley, L. Howie, Robert Kenney, David Paxman, Jonathan Sansom, Eleanor Shannon, Ryan Sokolowski, Marcin Steele, K. Tingay, Steven Towner, Martin Trott, Cathryn Walker, Mia Wayth, Randall Williams, Andrew Follow Up of GW170817 and Its Electromagnetic Counterpart by Australian-Led Observing Programmes |
| title | Follow Up of GW170817 and Its Electromagnetic Counterpart by Australian-Led Observing Programmes |
| title_full | Follow Up of GW170817 and Its Electromagnetic Counterpart by Australian-Led Observing Programmes |
| title_fullStr | Follow Up of GW170817 and Its Electromagnetic Counterpart by Australian-Led Observing Programmes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Follow Up of GW170817 and Its Electromagnetic Counterpart by Australian-Led Observing Programmes |
| title_short | Follow Up of GW170817 and Its Electromagnetic Counterpart by Australian-Led Observing Programmes |
| title_sort | follow up of gw170817 and its electromagnetic counterpart by australian-led observing programmes |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/61575 |