Abstract
We present UV, optical, and near-infrared (NIR) photometry of the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave source from Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo, the binary neutron star merger GW170817. Our data set extends from the discovery of the optical counterpart at 0.47-18.5 days post-merger, and includes observations with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), Gemini-South/FLAMINGOS-2 (GS/F2), and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The spectral energy distribution (SED) inferred from this photometry at 0.6 days is well described by a blackbody model with T ≈ 8300 K, a radius of R ≈ 4.5 × 1014cm (corresponding to an expansion velocity of v ≈ 0.3c), and a bolometric luminosity of Lbol ≈ 5 × 1041 erg s-1. At 1.5 days we find a multi-component SED across the optical and NIR, and subsequently we observe rapid fading in the UV and blue optical bands and significant reddening of the optical/NIR colors. Modeling the entire data set, we find that models with heating from radioactive decay of 56Ni, or those with only a single component of opacity from r-process elements, fail to capture the rapid optical decline and red optical/NIR colors. Instead, models with two components consistent with lanthanide-poor and lanthanide-rich ejecta provide a good fit to the data; the resulting "blue" component has Mblueej 0.1 M⊙ and vblueej ≈ 0.3c, and the "red" component has and Mredej ≈ 0.04 M⊙ and vredej ≈ 0.1 c. These ejecta masses are broadly consistent with the estimated r-process production rate required to explain the Milky Way r-process abundances, providing the first evidence that binary neutron star (BNS) mergers can be a dominant site of r-process enrichment.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | L17 |
| Journal | Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| Volume | 848 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 20 2017 |
Keywords
- binaries: close
- catalogs
- gravitational waves
- stars: neutron
- surveys
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Space and Planetary Science
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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. / Cowperthwaite, P. S.; Berger, E.; Villar, V. A.; Metzger, B. D.; Nicholl, M.; Chornock, R.; Blanchard, P. K.; Fong, W.; Margutti, R.; Soares-Santos, M.; Alexander, K. D.; Allam, S.; Annis, J.; Brout, D.; Brown, D. A.; Butler, R. E.; Chen, H. Y.; Diehl, H. T.; Doctor, Z.; Drout, M. R.; Eftekhari, T.; Farr, B.; Finley, D. A.; Foley, R. J.; Frieman, J. A.; Fryer, C. L.; García-Bellido, J.; Gill, M. S.S.; Guillochon, J.; Herner, K.; Holz, D. E.; Kasen, D.; Kessler, R.; Marriner, J.; Matheson, T.; Neilsen, E. H.; Quataert, E.; Palmese, A.; Rest, A.; Sako, M.; Scolnic, D. M.; Smith, N.; Tucker, D. L.; Williams, P. K.G.; Balbinot, E.; Carlin, J. L.; Cook, E. R.; Durret, F.; Li, T. S.; Lopes, P. A.A.; Lourenço, A. C.C.; Marshall, J. L.; Medina, G. E.; Muir, J.; Muñoz, R. R.; Sauseda, M.; Schlegel, D. J.; Secco, L. F.; Vivas, A. K.; Wester, W.; Zenteno, A.; Zhang, Y.; Abbott, T. M.C.; Banerji, M.; Bechtol, K.; Benoit-Lévy, A.; Bertin, E.; Buckley-Geer, E.; Burke, D. L.; Capozzi, D.; Carnero Rosell, A.; Carrasco Kind, M.; Castander, F. J.; Crocce, M.; Cunha, C. E.; D'Andrea, C. B.; Costa, L. N.Da; Davis, C.; Depoy, D. L.; Desai, S.; Dietrich, J. P.; Drlica-Wagner, A.; Eifler, T. F.; Evrard, A. E.; Fernandez, E.; Flaugher, B.; Fosalba, P.; Gaztanaga, E.; Gerdes, D. W.; Giannantonio, T.; Goldstein, D. A.; Gruen, D.; Gruendl, R. A.; Gutierrez, G.; Honscheid, K.; Jain, B.; James, D. J.; Jeltema, T.; Johnson, M. W.G.; Johnson, M. D.; Kent, S.; Krause, E.; Kron, R.; Kuehn, K.; Nuropatkin, N.; Lahav, O.; Lima, M.; Lin, H.; Maia, M. A.G.; March, M.; Martini, P.; McMahon, R. G.; Menanteau, F.; Miller, C. J.; Miquel, R.; Mohr, J. J.; Neilsen, E.; Nichol, R. C.; Ogando, R. L.C.; Plazas, A. A.; Roe, N.; Romer, A. K.; Roodman, A.; Rykoff, E. S.; Sanchez, E.; Scarpine, V.; Schindler, R.; Schubnell, M.; Sevilla-Noarbe, I.; Smith, M.; Smith, R. C.; Sobreira, F.; Suchyta, E.; Swanson, M. E.C.; Tarle, G.; Thomas, D.; Thomas, R. C.; Troxel, M. A.; Vikram, V.; Walker, A. R.; Wechsler, R. H.; Weller, J.; Yanny, B.; Zuntz, J.
In: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 848, No. 2, L17, 20.10.2017.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - 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
AU - Cowperthwaite, P. S.
AU - Berger, E.
AU - Villar, V. A.
AU - Metzger, B. D.
AU - Nicholl, M.
AU - Chornock, R.
AU - Blanchard, P. K.
AU - Fong, W.
AU - Margutti, R.
AU - Soares-Santos, M.
AU - Alexander, K. D.
AU - Allam, S.
AU - Annis, J.
AU - Brout, D.
AU - Brown, D. A.
AU - Butler, R. E.
AU - Chen, H. Y.
AU - Diehl, H. T.
AU - Doctor, Z.
AU - Drout, M. R.
AU - Eftekhari, T.
AU - Farr, B.
AU - Finley, D. A.
AU - Foley, R. J.
AU - Frieman, J. A.
AU - Fryer, C. L.
AU - García-Bellido, J.
AU - Gill, M. S.S.
AU - Guillochon, J.
AU - Herner, K.
AU - Holz, D. E.
AU - Kasen, D.
AU - Kessler, R.
AU - Marriner, J.
AU - Matheson, T.
AU - Neilsen, E. H.
AU - Quataert, E.
AU - Palmese, A.
AU - Rest, A.
AU - Sako, M.
AU - Scolnic, D. M.
AU - Smith, N.
AU - Tucker, D. L.
AU - Williams, P. K.G.
AU - Balbinot, E.
AU - Carlin, J. L.
AU - Cook, E. R.
AU - Durret, F.
AU - Li, T. S.
AU - Lopes, P. A.A.
AU - Lourenço, A. C.C.
AU - Marshall, J. L.
AU - Medina, G. E.
AU - Muir, J.
AU - Muñoz, R. R.
AU - Sauseda, M.
AU - Schlegel, D. J.
AU - Secco, L. F.
AU - Vivas, A. K.
AU - Wester, W.
AU - Zenteno, A.
AU - Zhang, Y.
AU - Abbott, T. M.C.
AU - Banerji, M.
AU - Bechtol, K.
AU - Benoit-Lévy, A.
AU - Bertin, E.
AU - Buckley-Geer, E.
AU - Burke, D. L.
AU - Capozzi, D.
AU - Carnero Rosell, A.
AU - Carrasco Kind, M.
AU - Castander, F. J.
AU - Crocce, M.
AU - Cunha, C. E.
AU - D'Andrea, C. B.
AU - Costa, L. N.Da
AU - Davis, C.
AU - Depoy, D. L.
AU - Desai, S.
AU - Dietrich, J. P.
AU - Drlica-Wagner, A.
AU - Eifler, T. F.
AU - Evrard, A. E.
AU - Fernandez, E.
AU - Flaugher, B.
AU - Fosalba, P.
AU - Gaztanaga, E.
AU - Gerdes, D. W.
AU - Giannantonio, T.
AU - Goldstein, D. A.
AU - Gruen, D.
AU - Gruendl, R. A.
AU - Gutierrez, G.
AU - Honscheid, K.
AU - Jain, B.
AU - James, D. J.
AU - Jeltema, T.
AU - Johnson, M. W.G.
AU - Johnson, M. D.
AU - Kent, S.
AU - Krause, E.
AU - Kron, R.
AU - Kuehn, K.
AU - Nuropatkin, N.
AU - Lahav, O.
AU - Lima, M.
AU - Lin, H.
AU - Maia, M. A.G.
AU - March, M.
AU - Martini, P.
AU - McMahon, R. G.
AU - Menanteau, F.
AU - Miller, C. J.
AU - Miquel, R.
AU - Mohr, J. J.
AU - Neilsen, E.
AU - Nichol, R. C.
AU - Ogando, R. L.C.
AU - Plazas, A. A.
AU - Roe, N.
AU - Romer, A. K.
AU - Roodman, A.
AU - Rykoff, E. S.
AU - Sanchez, E.
AU - Scarpine, V.
AU - Schindler, R.
AU - Schubnell, M.
AU - Sevilla-Noarbe, I.
AU - Smith, M.
AU - Smith, R. C.
AU - Sobreira, F.
AU - Suchyta, E.
AU - Swanson, M. E.C.
AU - Tarle, G.
AU - Thomas, D.
AU - Thomas, R. C.
AU - Troxel, M. A.
AU - Vikram, V.
AU - Walker, A. R.
AU - Wechsler, R. H.
AU - Weller, J.
AU - Yanny, B.
AU - Zuntz, J.
N1 - Funding Information: The Berger Time-Domain Group at Harvard is supported in part by the NSF through grants AST-1411763 and AST-1714498, and by NASA through grants NNX15AE50G and NNX16AC22G. P.S.C. is grateful for support provided by the NSF through the Graduate Research Fellowship Program, grant DGE 1144152. V.A.V. acknowledges support by the National Science Foundation through a Graduate Research Fellowship. D.A.B. is supposed by NSF award PHY-1707954. We thank the University of Copenhagen, DARK Cosmology Centre, and the Niels Bohr International Academy for hosting R.J.F. during the discovery of GW170817/SSS17a, where he was participating in the Kavli Summer Program in Astrophysics, “Astrophysics with gravitational wave detections.” This program was supported by the Kavli Foundation, Danish National Research Foundation, the Niels Bohr International Academy, and the DARK Cosmology Centre. The UCSC group is supported in part by NSF grant AST–1518052, the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, generous donations from many individuals through a UCSC Giving Day grant, and from fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation to R.J.F. E.B. acknowledges financial support from the European Research Council (ERC-StG-335936, CLUSTERS). D.K. and E.Q. were funded in part by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through Grant GBMF5076. Funding Information: Based in part on observations obtained at the Gemini Observatory (Program IDs GS-2017B-Q-8 and GS-2017B-DD-4; PI: Chornock), which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the NSF on behalf of the Gemini partnership: the National Science Foundation (United States), the National Research Council (Canada), CONICYT (Chile), Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva (Argentina), and Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Brazil). Funding Information: This project used data obtained with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), which was constructed by the Dark Energy Survey (DES) collaboration. Funding for the DES Projects has been provided by the DOE and NSF (USA), MISE (Spain), STFC (UK), HEFCE (UK), NCSA (UIUC), KICP (U. Chicago), CCAPP (Ohio State), MIFPA (Texas A&M), CNPQ, FAPERJ, FINEP (Brazil), MINECO (Spain), DFG (Germany), and the collaborating institutions in the Dark Energy Survey, which are Argonne Lab, UC Santa Cruz, University of Cambridge, CIEMAT-Madrid, University of Chicago, University College London, DES-Brazil Consortium, University of Edinburgh, ETH Zürich, Fermilab, University of Illinois, ICE (IEEC-CSIC), IFAE Barcelona, Lawrence Berkeley Lab, LMU München, and the associated Excellence Cluster Universe, University of Michigan, NOAO, University of Nottingham, Ohio State University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Portsmouth, SLAC National Lab, Stanford University, University of Sussex, and Texas A&M University. Publisher Copyright: © 2017. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..
PY - 2017/10/20
Y1 - 2017/10/20
N2 - We present UV, optical, and near-infrared (NIR) photometry of the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave source from Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo, the binary neutron star merger GW170817. Our data set extends from the discovery of the optical counterpart at 0.47-18.5 days post-merger, and includes observations with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), Gemini-South/FLAMINGOS-2 (GS/F2), and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The spectral energy distribution (SED) inferred from this photometry at 0.6 days is well described by a blackbody model with T ≈ 8300 K, a radius of R ≈ 4.5 × 1014cm (corresponding to an expansion velocity of v ≈ 0.3c), and a bolometric luminosity of Lbol ≈ 5 × 1041 erg s-1. At 1.5 days we find a multi-component SED across the optical and NIR, and subsequently we observe rapid fading in the UV and blue optical bands and significant reddening of the optical/NIR colors. Modeling the entire data set, we find that models with heating from radioactive decay of 56Ni, or those with only a single component of opacity from r-process elements, fail to capture the rapid optical decline and red optical/NIR colors. Instead, models with two components consistent with lanthanide-poor and lanthanide-rich ejecta provide a good fit to the data; the resulting "blue" component has Mblueej 0.1 M⊙ and vblueej ≈ 0.3c, and the "red" component has and Mredej ≈ 0.04 M⊙ and vredej ≈ 0.1 c. These ejecta masses are broadly consistent with the estimated r-process production rate required to explain the Milky Way r-process abundances, providing the first evidence that binary neutron star (BNS) mergers can be a dominant site of r-process enrichment.
AB - We present UV, optical, and near-infrared (NIR) photometry of the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave source from Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo, the binary neutron star merger GW170817. Our data set extends from the discovery of the optical counterpart at 0.47-18.5 days post-merger, and includes observations with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), Gemini-South/FLAMINGOS-2 (GS/F2), and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The spectral energy distribution (SED) inferred from this photometry at 0.6 days is well described by a blackbody model with T ≈ 8300 K, a radius of R ≈ 4.5 × 1014cm (corresponding to an expansion velocity of v ≈ 0.3c), and a bolometric luminosity of Lbol ≈ 5 × 1041 erg s-1. At 1.5 days we find a multi-component SED across the optical and NIR, and subsequently we observe rapid fading in the UV and blue optical bands and significant reddening of the optical/NIR colors. Modeling the entire data set, we find that models with heating from radioactive decay of 56Ni, or those with only a single component of opacity from r-process elements, fail to capture the rapid optical decline and red optical/NIR colors. Instead, models with two components consistent with lanthanide-poor and lanthanide-rich ejecta provide a good fit to the data; the resulting "blue" component has Mblueej 0.1 M⊙ and vblueej ≈ 0.3c, and the "red" component has and Mredej ≈ 0.04 M⊙ and vredej ≈ 0.1 c. These ejecta masses are broadly consistent with the estimated r-process production rate required to explain the Milky Way r-process abundances, providing the first evidence that binary neutron star (BNS) mergers can be a dominant site of r-process enrichment.
KW - binaries: close
KW - catalogs
KW - gravitational waves
KW - stars: neutron
KW - surveys
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85031911574&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85031911574&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3847/2041-8213/aa8fc7
DO - 10.3847/2041-8213/aa8fc7
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85031911574
VL - 848
JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters
JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters
SN - 2041-8205
IS - 2
M1 - L17
ER -