A Turnover in the Radio Light Curve of GW170817

We present 2-9 GHz radio observations of GW170817 covering the period 125-200 days post-merger, taken with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). Our observations demonstrate that the radio afterglow peaked at 149 ±2 days post-merger and is now de...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dobie, D., Kaplan, D., Murphy, T., Lenc, E., Mooley, K., Lynch, Christene, Corsi, A., Frail, D., Kasliwal, M., Hallinan, G.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Institute of Physics Publishing 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/68333
_version_ 1848762022322241536
author Dobie, D.
Kaplan, D.
Murphy, T.
Lenc, E.
Mooley, K.
Lynch, Christene
Corsi, A.
Frail, D.
Kasliwal, M.
Hallinan, G.
author_facet Dobie, D.
Kaplan, D.
Murphy, T.
Lenc, E.
Mooley, K.
Lynch, Christene
Corsi, A.
Frail, D.
Kasliwal, M.
Hallinan, G.
author_sort Dobie, D.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description We present 2-9 GHz radio observations of GW170817 covering the period 125-200 days post-merger, taken with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). Our observations demonstrate that the radio afterglow peaked at 149 ±2 days post-merger and is now declining in flux density. We see no evidence for evolution in the radio-only spectral index, which remains consistent with optically thin synchrotron emission connecting the radio, optical, and X-ray regimes. The peak implies a total energy in the synchrotron-emitting component of a few × 1050erg. The temporal decay rate is most consistent with mildly or non-relativistic material and we do not see evidence for a very energetic off-axis jet, but we cannot distinguish between a lower-energy jet and more isotropic emission.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T10:40:57Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-68333
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:40:57Z
publishDate 2018
publisher Institute of Physics Publishing
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-683332018-09-13T06:19:27Z A Turnover in the Radio Light Curve of GW170817 Dobie, D. Kaplan, D. Murphy, T. Lenc, E. Mooley, K. Lynch, Christene Corsi, A. Frail, D. Kasliwal, M. Hallinan, G. We present 2-9 GHz radio observations of GW170817 covering the period 125-200 days post-merger, taken with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). Our observations demonstrate that the radio afterglow peaked at 149 ±2 days post-merger and is now declining in flux density. We see no evidence for evolution in the radio-only spectral index, which remains consistent with optically thin synchrotron emission connecting the radio, optical, and X-ray regimes. The peak implies a total energy in the synchrotron-emitting component of a few × 1050erg. The temporal decay rate is most consistent with mildly or non-relativistic material and we do not see evidence for a very energetic off-axis jet, but we cannot distinguish between a lower-energy jet and more isotropic emission. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/68333 10.3847/2041-8213/aac105 Institute of Physics Publishing fulltext
spellingShingle Dobie, D.
Kaplan, D.
Murphy, T.
Lenc, E.
Mooley, K.
Lynch, Christene
Corsi, A.
Frail, D.
Kasliwal, M.
Hallinan, G.
A Turnover in the Radio Light Curve of GW170817
title A Turnover in the Radio Light Curve of GW170817
title_full A Turnover in the Radio Light Curve of GW170817
title_fullStr A Turnover in the Radio Light Curve of GW170817
title_full_unstemmed A Turnover in the Radio Light Curve of GW170817
title_short A Turnover in the Radio Light Curve of GW170817
title_sort turnover in the radio light curve of gw170817
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/68333