Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger

Merging neutron stars offer an excellent laboratory for simultaneously studying strong-field gravity and matter in extreme environments. We establish the physical association of an electromagnetic counterpart (EM170817) with gravitational waves (GW170817) detected from merging neutron stars. By synt...

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Main Authors:	Kasliwal, M., Nakar, E., Singer, L., Kaplan, D., Cook, D., Van Sistine, A., Lau, R., Fremling, C., Gottlieb, O., Jencson, J., Adams, S., Feindt, U., Hotokezaka, K., Ghosh, S., Perley, D., Yu, P., Piran, T., Allison, J., Anupama, G., Balasubramanian, A., Bannister, K., Bally, J., Barnes, J., Barway, S., Bellm, E., Bhalerao, V., Bhattacharya, D., Blagorodnova, N., Bloom, J., Brady, P., Cannella, C., Chatterjee, D., Cenko, S., Cobb, B., Copperwheat, C., Corsi, A., De, K., Dobie, D., Emery, S., Evans, P., Fox, O., Frail, D., Frohmaier, C., Goobar, A., Hallinan, G., Harrison, F., Helou, G., Hinderer, T., Ho, A., Horesh, A., Ip, W., Itoh, R., Kasen, D., Kim, H., Kuin, N., Kupfer, T., Lynch, Christene, Madsen, K., Mazzali, P., Miller, A., Mooley, K., Murphy, T., Ngeow, C., Nichols, D., Nissanke, S., Nugent, P., Ofek, E., Qi, H., Quimby, R., Rosswog, S., Rusu, F., Sadler, E., Schmidt, P., Sollerman, J., Steele, I., Williamson, A., Xu, Y., Yan, L., Yatsu, Y., Zhang, C., Zhao, W.
Format:	Journal Article
Published:	The American Association for the Advancement of Science 2017
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69473

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author	Kasliwal, M. Nakar, E. Singer, L. Kaplan, D. Cook, D. Van Sistine, A. Lau, R. Fremling, C. Gottlieb, O. Jencson, J. Adams, S. Feindt, U. Hotokezaka, K. Ghosh, S. Perley, D. Yu, P. Piran, T. Allison, J. Anupama, G. Balasubramanian, A. Bannister, K. Bally, J. Barnes, J. Barway, S. Bellm, E. Bhalerao, V. Bhattacharya, D. Blagorodnova, N. Bloom, J. Brady, P. Cannella, C. Chatterjee, D. Cenko, S. Cobb, B. Copperwheat, C. Corsi, A. De, K. Dobie, D. Emery, S. Evans, P. Fox, O. Frail, D. Frohmaier, C. Goobar, A. Hallinan, G. Harrison, F. Helou, G. Hinderer, T. Ho, A. Horesh, A. Ip, W. Itoh, R. Kasen, D. Kim, H. Kuin, N. Kupfer, T. Lynch, Christene Madsen, K. Mazzali, P. Miller, A. Mooley, K. Murphy, T. Ngeow, C. Nichols, D. Nissanke, S. Nugent, P. Ofek, E. Qi, H. Quimby, R. Rosswog, S. Rusu, F. Sadler, E. Schmidt, P. Sollerman, J. Steele, I. Williamson, A. Xu, Y. Yan, L. Yatsu, Y. Zhang, C. Zhao, W.
author_facet	Kasliwal, M. Nakar, E. Singer, L. Kaplan, D. Cook, D. Van Sistine, A. Lau, R. Fremling, C. Gottlieb, O. Jencson, J. Adams, S. Feindt, U. Hotokezaka, K. Ghosh, S. Perley, D. Yu, P. Piran, T. Allison, J. Anupama, G. Balasubramanian, A. Bannister, K. Bally, J. Barnes, J. Barway, S. Bellm, E. Bhalerao, V. Bhattacharya, D. Blagorodnova, N. Bloom, J. Brady, P. Cannella, C. Chatterjee, D. Cenko, S. Cobb, B. Copperwheat, C. Corsi, A. De, K. Dobie, D. Emery, S. Evans, P. Fox, O. Frail, D. Frohmaier, C. Goobar, A. Hallinan, G. Harrison, F. Helou, G. Hinderer, T. Ho, A. Horesh, A. Ip, W. Itoh, R. Kasen, D. Kim, H. Kuin, N. Kupfer, T. Lynch, Christene Madsen, K. Mazzali, P. Miller, A. Mooley, K. Murphy, T. Ngeow, C. Nichols, D. Nissanke, S. Nugent, P. Ofek, E. Qi, H. Quimby, R. Rosswog, S. Rusu, F. Sadler, E. Schmidt, P. Sollerman, J. Steele, I. Williamson, A. Xu, Y. Yan, L. Yatsu, Y. Zhang, C. Zhao, W.
author_sort	Kasliwal, M.
building	Curtin Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
description	Merging neutron stars offer an excellent laboratory for simultaneously studying strong-field gravity and matter in extreme environments. We establish the physical association of an electromagnetic counterpart (EM170817) with gravitational waves (GW170817) detected from merging neutron stars. By synthesizing a panchromatic data set, we demonstrate that merging neutron stars are a long-sought production site forging heavy elements by r-process nucleosynthesis. The weak gamma rays seen in EM170817 are dissimilar to classical short gamma-ray bursts with ultrarelativistic jets. Instead, we suggest that breakout of a wide-angle, mildly relativistic cocoon engulfing the jet explains the low-luminosity gamma rays, the high-luminosity ultraviolet-optical-infrared, and the delayed radio and x-ray emission. We posit that all neutron star mergers may lead to a wide-angle cocoon breakout, sometimes accompanied by a successful jet and sometimes by a choked jet.
first_indexed	2025-11-14T10:41:24Z
format	Journal Article
id	curtin-20.500.11937-69473
institution	Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category	Local University
last_indexed	2025-11-14T10:41:24Z
publishDate	2017
publisher	The American Association for the Advancement of Science
recordtype	eprints
repository_type	Digital Repository
spelling	curtin-20.500.11937-694732018-08-08T04:56:26Z Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger Kasliwal, M. Nakar, E. Singer, L. Kaplan, D. Cook, D. Van Sistine, A. Lau, R. Fremling, C. Gottlieb, O. Jencson, J. Adams, S. Feindt, U. Hotokezaka, K. Ghosh, S. Perley, D. Yu, P. Piran, T. Allison, J. Anupama, G. Balasubramanian, A. Bannister, K. Bally, J. Barnes, J. Barway, S. Bellm, E. Bhalerao, V. Bhattacharya, D. Blagorodnova, N. Bloom, J. Brady, P. Cannella, C. Chatterjee, D. Cenko, S. Cobb, B. Copperwheat, C. Corsi, A. De, K. Dobie, D. Emery, S. Evans, P. Fox, O. Frail, D. Frohmaier, C. Goobar, A. Hallinan, G. Harrison, F. Helou, G. Hinderer, T. Ho, A. Horesh, A. Ip, W. Itoh, R. Kasen, D. Kim, H. Kuin, N. Kupfer, T. Lynch, Christene Madsen, K. Mazzali, P. Miller, A. Mooley, K. Murphy, T. Ngeow, C. Nichols, D. Nissanke, S. Nugent, P. Ofek, E. Qi, H. Quimby, R. Rosswog, S. Rusu, F. Sadler, E. Schmidt, P. Sollerman, J. Steele, I. Williamson, A. Xu, Y. Yan, L. Yatsu, Y. Zhang, C. Zhao, W. Merging neutron stars offer an excellent laboratory for simultaneously studying strong-field gravity and matter in extreme environments. We establish the physical association of an electromagnetic counterpart (EM170817) with gravitational waves (GW170817) detected from merging neutron stars. By synthesizing a panchromatic data set, we demonstrate that merging neutron stars are a long-sought production site forging heavy elements by r-process nucleosynthesis. The weak gamma rays seen in EM170817 are dissimilar to classical short gamma-ray bursts with ultrarelativistic jets. Instead, we suggest that breakout of a wide-angle, mildly relativistic cocoon engulfing the jet explains the low-luminosity gamma rays, the high-luminosity ultraviolet-optical-infrared, and the delayed radio and x-ray emission. We posit that all neutron star mergers may lead to a wide-angle cocoon breakout, sometimes accompanied by a successful jet and sometimes by a choked jet. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69473 10.1126/science.aap9455 The American Association for the Advancement of Science restricted
spellingShingle	Kasliwal, M. Nakar, E. Singer, L. Kaplan, D. Cook, D. Van Sistine, A. Lau, R. Fremling, C. Gottlieb, O. Jencson, J. Adams, S. Feindt, U. Hotokezaka, K. Ghosh, S. Perley, D. Yu, P. Piran, T. Allison, J. Anupama, G. Balasubramanian, A. Bannister, K. Bally, J. Barnes, J. Barway, S. Bellm, E. Bhalerao, V. Bhattacharya, D. Blagorodnova, N. Bloom, J. Brady, P. Cannella, C. Chatterjee, D. Cenko, S. Cobb, B. Copperwheat, C. Corsi, A. De, K. Dobie, D. Emery, S. Evans, P. Fox, O. Frail, D. Frohmaier, C. Goobar, A. Hallinan, G. Harrison, F. Helou, G. Hinderer, T. Ho, A. Horesh, A. Ip, W. Itoh, R. Kasen, D. Kim, H. Kuin, N. Kupfer, T. Lynch, Christene Madsen, K. Mazzali, P. Miller, A. Mooley, K. Murphy, T. Ngeow, C. Nichols, D. Nissanke, S. Nugent, P. Ofek, E. Qi, H. Quimby, R. Rosswog, S. Rusu, F. Sadler, E. Schmidt, P. Sollerman, J. Steele, I. Williamson, A. Xu, Y. Yan, L. Yatsu, Y. Zhang, C. Zhao, W. Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger
title	Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger
title_full	Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger
title_fullStr	Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger
title_full_unstemmed	Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger
title_short	Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger
title_sort	illuminating gravitational waves: a concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger
url	http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/69473

Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger

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