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Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger

Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger

2017 October 20 | LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration, Fermi GBM, INTEGRAL, IceCube Collaboration, AstroSat Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager Team, IPN Collaboration, The Insight-Hxmt Collaboration, ANTARES Collaboration, The Swift Collaboration, AGILE Team, The 1M2H Team, The Dark Energy Camera GW-EM Collaboration and the DES Collaboration, The DLT40 Collaboration, GRAWITA: GRAVitational Wave Inaf TeAm, The Fermi Large Area Telescope Collaboration, ATCA: Australia Telescope Compact Array, ASKAP: Australian SKA Pathfinder, Las Cumbres Observatory Group, OzGrav, DWF (Deeper, Wider, Faster Program), AST3, and CAASTRO Collaborations, The VINROUGE Collaboration, MASTER Collaboration, J-GEM, GROWTH, JAGWAR, Caltech-NRAO, TTU-NRAO, and NuSTAR Collaborations, Pan-STARRS, The MAXI Team, TZAC Consortium, KU Collaboration, Nordic Optical Telescope, ePESSTO, GROND, Texas Tech University, SALT Group, TOROS: Transient Robotic Observatory of the South Collaboration, The BOOTES Collaboration, MWA: Murchison Widefield Array, The CALET Collaboration, IKI-GW Follow-up Collaboration, H.E.S.S. Collaboration, LOFAR Collaboration, LWA: Long Wavelength Array, HAWC Collaboration, The Pierre Auger Collaboration, ALMA Collaboration, Euro VLBI Team, Pi of the Sky Collaboration, The Chandra Team at McGill University, DFN: Desert Fireball Network, ATLAS, High Time Resolution Universe Survey, RIMAS and RATIR, and SKA South Africa/MeerKAT
On August 17, 2017, a binary neutron star merger (designated GW170817) was detected by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (Fermi-GBM) independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of approximately 1.7 seconds relative to the merger time. The gravitational-wave signal localized the source to a sky region of 31 square degrees at a luminosity distance of 40 ± 8 Mpc, with component masses consistent with neutron stars. Subsequent observations revealed an optical transient (SSS17a, now identified as AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993, approximately 40 Mpc away. The optical transient was discovered within 11 hours of the merger by the One-Meter, Two-Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. Multiple teams independently detected the optical transient within an hour. Early ultraviolet observations showed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours, while optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over about 10 days. X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient's position approximately 9 and 16 days after the merger, respectively. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays or neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC 4993, followed by a short GRB and a kilonova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta.On August 17, 2017, a binary neutron star merger (designated GW170817) was detected by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (Fermi-GBM) independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of approximately 1.7 seconds relative to the merger time. The gravitational-wave signal localized the source to a sky region of 31 square degrees at a luminosity distance of 40 ± 8 Mpc, with component masses consistent with neutron stars. Subsequent observations revealed an optical transient (SSS17a, now identified as AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993, approximately 40 Mpc away. The optical transient was discovered within 11 hours of the merger by the One-Meter, Two-Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. Multiple teams independently detected the optical transient within an hour. Early ultraviolet observations showed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours, while optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over about 10 days. X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient's position approximately 9 and 16 days after the merger, respectively. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays or neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC 4993, followed by a short GRB and a kilonova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta.
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