Detail for Program: GS-2017B-Q-8

Program: GS-2017B-Q-8

Title:

Confirmation of Optical Counterparts to LIGO/Virgo Sources Found with DECam

PI:

Ryan Chornock

Co-I(s):

Patrick Sutton, Philip Cowperthwaite, Josh Frieman, David Gerdes, Rick Kessler, Dan Scolnic, Brian Metzger, Gary Bernstein, Matt Nicholl, Huan Lin, Chad Hanna, James Annis, Peter Williams, Edo Berger, Eliot Quataert, Marcelle Soares-Santos, R. Chris Smith, Masao Sako, Daniel Holz, S. Bradley Cenko, Chris Fryer, Laura Nuttall, Dan Kasen, John Marriner, Hsin-Yu Chen, Duncan Brown, Brenna Flaugher, Shantanu Desai, Brian Yanny, David Finley, Robert Gruendl, Flavia Sobreira, Derek Fox, Alistair Walker, Kate Alexander, H. Thomas Diehl, V. Ashley Villar, Ryan Foley, Nathan Smith, Raffaella Margutti, Maria Drout, Stephen Fairhurst, Eric Neilsen, Wen-fai Fong, Armin Rest, Elizabeth Buckley-Geer, Laura Cadonati, Benjamin Farr, Thomas Matheson

Abstract

The era of gravitational wave (GW) astronomy has begun with the Advanced LIGO detection of the binary black hole mergers GW 150914 and 151226. The ongoing Advanced LIGO/Virgo Observing Run 2 (O2), which operates with improved sensitivity, including to binary neutron star (BNS) mergers out to 120 Mpc, has been extended to Sep. 2017 and possibly longer before a shutdown until semester 2018B for further upgrades. Electromagnetic counterparts to GW sources offer the only way to precisely measure the localization and redshift. In the event of a LIGO/Virgo detection of a BNS merger, the most promising electromagnetic counterpart is a faint, red optical transient powered by radioactive r-process nuclei, called a "kilonova". Our collaboration has designed a follow-up program using i/z imaging with DECam at CTIO to be sensitive to kilonovae within the volume out to which we expect detections of BNS during O2. We will apply color and timescale cuts to filter optical transients found with our DECam program to find plausible GW counterparts. This Gemini proposal will provide optical and near-infrared spectroscopy of these candidate optical counterparts to confirm or reject their connection to the GW source. The GMOS-S and FLAMINGOS-2 spectra will be critical for identifying the correct optical counterpart, and in the case of a kilonova detection, measuring the ejecta velocities and demonstrating that neutron star mergers are prime locations for r-process nucleosynthesis.

Publications using this program's data

[data] [ADS] Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger

[data] [ADS] The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/Virgo GW170817. II. UV, Optical, and Near-infrared Light Curves and Comparison to Kilonova Models

[data] [ADS] The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/Virgo GW170817. IV. Detection of Near-infrared Signatures of r-process Nucleosynthesis with Gemini-South

[data] [ADS] The Combined Ultraviolet, Optical, and Near-infrared Light Curves of the Kilonova Associated with the Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817: Unified Data Set, Analytic Models, and Physical Implications

[data] [ADS] A luminosity distribution for kilonovae based on short gamma-ray burst afterglows