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18 results on '"Eifler, T.F."'

1. Optical follow-up of gravitational wave triggers with DECam during the first two LIGO/VIRGO observing runs

Author

Herner, K., Annis, J., Brout, D., Soares-Santos, M., Kessler, R., Sako, M., Butler, R., Doctor, Z., Palmese, A., Allam, S., Tucker, D.L., Sobreira, F., Yanny, B., Diehl, H.T., Frieman, J., Glaeser, N., Garcia, A., Sherman, N.F., Bechtol, K., Berger, E., Chen, H.Y., Conselice, C.J., Cook, E., Cowperthwaite, P.S., Davis, T.M., Drlica-Wagner, A., Farr, B., Finley, D., Foley, R.J., Garcia-Bellido, J., Gill, M.S.S., Gruendl, R.A., Holz, D.E., Kuropatkin, N., Lin, H., Marriner, J., Marshall, J.L., Matheson, T., Neilsen, E., Paz-Chinchón, F., Sauseda, M., Scolnic, D., Williams, P.K.G., Avila, S., Bertin, E., Buckley-Geer, E., Burke, D.L., Rosell, A. Carnero, Carrasco-Kind, M., Carretero, J., da Costa, L.N., De Vicente, J., Desai, S., Doel, P., Eifler, T.F., Everett, S., Fosalba, P., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Hartley, W.G., Hollowood, D.L., Honscheid, K., James, D.J., Krause, E., Kuehn, K., Lahav, O., Li, T.S., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Plazas, A.A., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schubnell, M., Serrano, S., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Suchyta, E., Tarle, G., Wester, W., and Zhang, Y.

Published
2020
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2. Reprint of "Evidence for color dichotomy in the primordial Neptunian Trojan population"

Author

Lin (林省文), Hsing Wen, W. Gerdes, David, J. Hamilton, Stephanie, C. Adams, Fred, M. Bernstein, Gary, Sako, Masao, Bernadinelli, Pedro, Tucker, Douglas, Allam, Sahar, C. Becker, Juliette, Khain, Tali, Markwardt, Larissa, Franson, Kyle, Abbott, T.M.C., Annis, J., Avila, S., Brooks, D., Carnero Rosell, A., Carrasco Kind, M., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., da Costa, L.N., De Vicente, J., Doel, P., Eifler, T.F., Flaugher, B., García-Bellido, J., Hollowood, D.L., Honscheid, Klaus, James, D.J., Kuehn, K., Kuropatkin, N., Maia, M.A.G., Marshall, J.L., Miquel, R., Plazas, A.A., Romer, A.K., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Smith, R.C., Soares-Santos, M., Sobreira, F., Suchyta, E., Tarle, G., Walker, A.R., and Wester, W.

Published
2019
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3. Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Cross-correlation between Dark Energy Survey Y1 galaxy weak lensing and South Pole Telescope +Planck CMB weak lensing

Author

Omori, Y., Baxter, E.J., Kirk, D., Alarcon, A., Bernstein, G.M., Bleem, L.E., Cawthon, R., Choi, A., Chown, R., Crawford, T.M., Davis, C., De Vicente, J., DeRose, J., Dodelson, S., Eifler, T.F., Fosalba, P., Friedrich, O., Gatti, M., Gaztanaga, E., Giannantonio, T., Gruen, D., Hartley, W.G., Holder, G.P., Hoyle, B., Huterer, D., Jain, B., Jarvis, M., Krause, E., MacCrann, N., Miquel, R., Prat, J., Rau, M.M., Reichardt, C.L., ROZO, E., Samuroff, S., Sánchez, C., Secco, L.F., Sheldon, E., Simard, G., Troxel, M.A., Vielzeuf, P., Wechsler, R.H., Zuntz, J., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Allam, S., Annis, J., Avila, S., Aylor, K., Benson, B.A., Bertin, E., Bridle, S.L., Brooks, D., Burke, D.L., Carlstrom, J.E., Carnero Rosell, A., Carrasco Kind, M., Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Chang, C.L., Cho, H-M., Crites, A.T., Crocce, M., Cunha, C.E., Da Costa, L.N., De Haan, T., Desai, S., Diehl, H.T., Dietrich, J.P., Dobbs, M.A., Everett, W.B., Fernandez, E., Flaugher, B., Frieman, J., García-Bellido, J., George, E.M., Gruendl, R.A., Gutierrez, G., Halverson, N.W., Harrington, N.L., Hollowood, D.L., Honscheid, K., Holzapfel, W.L., Hou, Z., Hrubes, J.D., James, D.J., Jeltema, T., Kuehn, K., Kuropatkin, N., Lima, M., Lin, H., Lee, A.T., Leitch, E.M., Luong-Van, D., Maia, M.A.G., Manzotti, A., Marrone, D.P., Marshall, J.L., Martini, P., McMahon, J.J., Melchior, P., Menanteau, F., Meyer, S.S., Mocanu, L.M., Mohr, J.J., Natoli, T., Ogando, R.L.C., Padin, S., Plazas, A.A., Pryke, C., Romer, A.K., Roodman, A., Ruhl, J.E., Rykoff, E.S., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schaffer, K.K., Schindler, R., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Shirokoff, E., Smith, M., Smith, R.C., Soares-Santos, M., Sobreira, F., Staniszewski, Z., Stark, A.A., Story, K.T., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Vanderlinde, K., Vieira, J.D., Vikram, V., Walker, A.R., Weller, J., Williamson, R., Wu, W.L.K., Zahn, O., Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (IAP), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), DES, and SPT

Subjects
Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], Cosmology
Abstract

International audience; We cross-correlate galaxy weak lensing measurements from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) year-one data with a cosmic microwave background (CMB) weak lensing map derived from South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Planck data, with an effective overlapping area of 1289 deg2. With the combined measurements from four source galaxy redshift bins, we obtain a detection significance of 5.8σ. We fit the amplitude of the correlation functions while fixing the cosmological parameters to a fiducial ΛCDM model, finding A=0.99±0.17. We additionally use the correlation function measurements to constrain shear calibration bias, obtaining constraints that are consistent with previous DES analyses. Finally, when performing a cosmological analysis under the ΛCDM model, we obtain the marginalized constraints of Ωm=0.261-0.051+0.070 and S8≡σ8Ωm/0.3=0.660-0.100+0.085. These measurements are used in a companion work that presents cosmological constraints from the joint analysis of two-point functions among galaxies, galaxy shears, and CMB lensing using DES, SPT, and Planck data.

Published
2019

4. Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Tomographic cross-correlations between Dark Energy Survey galaxies and CMB lensing from South Pole Telescope+Planck

Author

Omori, Y., Giannantonio, T., Porredon, A., Baxter, E.J., Crocce, M., Fosalba, P., Alarcon, A., Banik, N., Blazek, J., Bleem, L.E., Bridle, S.L., Cawthon, R., Choi, A., Chown, R., Crawford, T., Dodelson, S., Drlica-Wagner, A., Eifler, T.F., Elvin-Poole, J., Friedrich, O., Gruen, D., Holder, G.P., Huterer, D., Jain, B., Jarvis, M., Kirk, D., Kokron, N., Krause, E., MacCrann, N., Muir, J., Prat, J., Reichardt, C.L., Ross, A.J., ROZO, E., Rykoff, E.S., Sánchez, C., Secco, L.F., Simard, G., Wechsler, R.H., Zuntz, J., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Allam, S., Avila, S., Aylor, K., Benson, B.A., Bernstein, G.M., Bertin, E., Bianchini, F., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Burke, D.L., Carlstrom, J.E., Carnero Rosell, A., Carrasco Kind, M., Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Chang, C.L., Cho, H-M., Crites, A.T., Cunha, C.E., Da Costa, L.N., De Haan, T., Davis, C., De Vicente, J., Desai, S., Diehl, H.T., Dietrich, J.P., Dobbs, M.A., Everett, W.B., Doel, P., Estrada, J., Flaugher, B., Frieman, J., García-Bellido, J., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., George, E.M., Gruendl, R.A., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Halverson, N.W., Harrington, N.L., Hartley, W.G., Hollowood, D.L., Holzapfel, W.L., Honscheid, K., Hou, Z., Hoyle, B., Hrubes, J.D., James, D.J., Jeltema, T., Kuehn, K., Kuropatkin, N., Lee, A.T., Leitch, E.M., Lima, M., Luong-Van, D., Manzotti, A., Marrone, D.P., Marshall, J.L., McMahon, J.J., Melchior, P., Menanteau, F., Meyer, S.S., Miller, C.J., Miquel, R., Mocanu, L.M., Mohr, J.J., Natoli, T., Padin, S., Plazas, A.A., Pryke, C., Romer, A.K., Roodman, A., Ruhl, J.E., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schaffer, K.K., Schubnell, M., Serrano, S., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Shirokoff, E., Smith, M., Soares-Santos, M., Sobreira, F., Staniszewski, Z., Stark, A.A., Story, K.T., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Troxel, M.A., Vanderlinde, K., Vieira, J.D., Walker, A.R., Wu, W.L.K., Zahn, O., Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (IAP), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), DES, SPT, and UAM. Departamento de Física Teórica

Subjects
Library science, Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, 7. Clean energy, 01 natural sciences, 0103 physical sciences, media_common.cataloged_instance, European union, 010306 general physics, GeneralLiterature_REFERENCE(e.g.,dictionaries,encyclopedias,glossaries), STFC, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, QC, media_common, Physics, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, European research, Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, RCUK, Física, GALÁXIAS, Cosmology, South Pole Telescope, 13. Climate action, Research council, Fundamental physics, Christian ministry, [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]
Abstract

Kavli Foundation; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; Canadian Institute for Advanced Research; Canada Research Chairs program; U.S. Department of Energy [DE-SC0007901]; Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago [NSF PHY-1125897]; Australian Research Council Future Fellowship [FT150100074]; Fermi Research Alliance, LLC [De-AC02-07CH11359]; United States Department of Energy; National Science Foundation [OCI-0725070, ACI-1238993]; NSF Physics Frontier Center [PHY-0114422]; Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; GBMF [947]; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; U.S. National Science Foundation; Ministry of Science and Education of Spain; Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom; Higher Education Funding Council for England; National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics at the Ohio State University; Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy at Texas AM University; Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos; Fundacao Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; Collaborating Institutions in the Dark Energy Survey; University of California at Santa Cruz; University of Cambridge, Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas, Medioambientales y Tecnologicas-Madrid; DES-Brazil Consortium; University of Edinburgh; Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zurich; Ludwig-Maximilians Universitat Munchen; University of Portsmouth; OzDES Membership Consortium; Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA); MINECO [AYA2015-71825, ESP2015-66861, FPA2015-68048, SEV-2016-0588, SEV-2016-0597, MDM-2015-0509]; ERDF; European Union - CERCA program of the Generalitat de Catalunya; European Research Council under the European Union [240672, 291329, 306478]; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO) [CE110001020]; Brazilian Instituto Nacional de Ciencia e Tecnologia (INCT) e-Universe (CNPq) [De-AC02-07CH11359, 465376/2014-2]; U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics - Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI); ministere de l'Economie, de la science et de l'innovation du Quebec (MESI); Fonds de recherche du Quebec-Nature et technologies (FRQ-NT); state of Illinois; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign [49,70, MATPLOTLIB [75], 76,77]

Published
2019

5. Improving Weak Lensing Mass Map Reconstructions using Gaussian and Sparsity Priors: Application to DES SV

Author

Jeffrey, N., Abdalla, F.B., Lahav, O., Lanusse, F., Starck, J.-L., Leonard, A., Kirk, D., Chang, C., Baxter, E., Kacprzak, T., Seitz, S., Vikram, V., Whiteway, L., Abbott, T.M.C., Allam, S., Avila, S., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Carnero Rosell, A., Carrasco Kind, M., Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Crocce, M., Cunha, C.E., D'Andrea, C.B., Da Costa, L.N., Davis, C., De Vicente, J., Desai, S., Doel, P., Eifler, T.F., Evrard, A.E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Frieman, J., García-Bellido, J., Gerdes, D.W., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R.A., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Hartley, W.G., Honscheid, K., Hoyle, B., James, D.J., Jarvis, M., Kuehn, K., Lima, M., Lin, H., March, M., Melchior, P., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Plazas, A.A., Reil, K., Roodman, A., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schubnell, M., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Soares-Santos, M., Sobreira, F., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Walker, A.R., Astrophysique Interprétation Modélisation (AIM (UMR_7158 / UMR_E_9005 / UM_112)), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7), Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (IAP), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), DES, Astrophysique Interprétation Modélisation (AIM (UMR7158 / UMR_E_9005 / UM_112)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire AIM, Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 ( UPD7 ) -Centre d'Etudes de Saclay, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris ( IAP ), and Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 ( UPMC ) -Institut national des sciences de l'Univers ( INSU - CNRS ) -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS )

Subjects
methods: statistical, Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO), gravitational lensing: weak, [ PHYS.ASTR ] Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], FOS: Physical sciences, Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, large-scale structure of Universe, [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics, Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Abstract

Mapping the underlying density field, including non-visible dark matter, using weak gravitational lensing measurements is now a standard tool in cosmology. Due to its importance to the science results of current and upcoming surveys, the quality of the convergence reconstruction methods should be well understood. We compare three methods: Kaiser-Squires (KS), Wiener filter, and GLIMPSE. KS is a direct inversion, not accounting for survey masks or noise. The Wiener filter is well-motivated for Gaussian density fields in a Bayesian framework. GLIMPSE uses sparsity, aiming to reconstruct non-linearities in the density field. We compare these methods with several tests using public Dark Energy Survey (DES) Science Verification (SV) data and realistic DES simulations. The Wiener filter and GLIMPSE offer substantial improvements over smoothed KS with a range of metrics. Both the Wiener filter and GLIMPSE convergence reconstructions show a 12 per cent improvement in Pearson correlation with the underlying truth from simulations. To compare the mapping methods' abilities to find mass peaks, we measure the difference between peak counts from simulated {\Lambda}CDM shear catalogues and catalogues with no mass fluctuations (a standard data vector when inferring cosmology from peak statistics); the maximum signal-to-noise of these peak statistics is increased by a factor of 3.5 for the Wiener filter and 9 for GLIMPSE. With simulations we measure the reconstruction of the harmonic phases; the phase residuals' concentration is improved 17 per cent by GLIMPSE and 18 per cent by the Wiener filter. The correlation between reconstructions from data and foreground redMaPPer clusters is increased 18 per cent by the Wiener filter and 32 per cent by GLIMPSE., Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, MNRAS published: 15 May 2018

Published
2018

6. The Splashback Feature around DES Galaxy Clusters: Galaxy Density and Weak Lensing Profiles

Author

Chang, Chihway, Baxter, E., Jain, B., Sánchez, C., Adhikari, S., Varga, T.N., Fang, Y., Rozo, Eduardo, Rykoff, E.S., Kravtsov, Andrey, Gruen, D., Hartley, W., Huff, E.M., Jarvis, M., Kim, A.G., Prat, J., MacCrann, N., McClintock, T., Palmese, A., Rapetti, D., Rollins, R.P., Samuroff, S., Sheldon, E., Troxel, M.A., Wechsler, R.H., Zhang, Y., Zuntz, J., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Allam, S., Annis, J., Bechtol, K., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bernstein, G.M., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Carnero Rosell, A., Carrasco Kind, M., Carretero, J., D'Andrea, C.B., Da Costa, L.N., Davis, C., Desai, S., Diehl, H.T., Dietrich, J.P., Drlica-Wagner, A., Eifler, T.F., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Frieman, J., García-Bellido, J., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Gruendl, R.A., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Honscheid, K., James, D.J., Jeltema, T., Krause, E., Kuehn, K., Lahav, O., Lima, M., March, M., Marshall, J.L., Martini, P., Melchior, P., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Mohr, J.J., Nord, B., Ogando, R.L.C., Plazas, A.A., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schindler, R., Schubnell, M., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Smith, R.C., Soares-Santos, M., Sobreira, F., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Weller, J., Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris (IAP), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and DES

Subjects
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO), galaxies: halos, FOS: Physical sciences, Astrophysics, Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Physical Chemistry, Atomic, 01 natural sciences, Particle and Plasma Physics, gravitational lensing: weak, 0103 physical sciences, Cluster (physics), Nuclear, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Weak gravitational lensing, Galaxy cluster, Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics, Physics, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, Molecular, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Redshift, Galaxy, Dark matter halo, Space and Planetary Science, galaxies: clusters: general, cosmology: observations, Dark energy, Halo, [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], Astronomical and Space Sciences, Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural), Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Abstract

Splashback refers to the process of matter that is accreting onto a dark matter halo reaching its first orbital apocenter and turning around in its orbit. The cluster-centric radius at which this process occurs, r_sp, defines a halo boundary that is connected to the dynamics of the cluster. A rapid decline in the halo profile is expected near r_sp. We measure the galaxy number density and weak lensing mass profiles around redMaPPer galaxy clusters in the first year Dark Energy Survey (DES) data. For a cluster sample with mean M_200m mass ~2.5 x 10^14 M_sun, we find strong evidence of a splashback-like steepening of the galaxy density profile and measure r_sp=1.13 +/- 0.07 Mpc/h, consistent with earlier SDSS measurements of More et al. (2016) and Baxter et al. (2017). Moreover, our weak lensing measurement demonstrates for the first time the existence of a splashback-like steepening of the matter profile of galaxy clusters. We measure r_sp=1.34 +/- 0.21 Mpc/h from the weak lensing data, in good agreement with our galaxy density measurements. For different cluster and galaxy samples, we find that consistent with LCDM simulations, r_sp scales with R_200m and does not evolve with redshift over the redshift range of 0.3--0.6. We also find that potential systematic effects associated with the redMaPPer algorithm may impact the location of r_sp. We discuss progress needed to understand the systematic uncertainties and fully exploit forthcoming data from DES and future surveys, emphasizing the importance of more realistic mock catalogs and independent cluster samples., Comment: 25 pages, 15 figures; update to journal accepted version

Published
2018

7. Evidence for color dichotomy in the primordial Neptunian Trojan population

Author

Lin (林省文), Hsing Wen, primary, W. Gerdes, David, additional, J. Hamilton, Stephanie, additional, C. Adams, Fred, additional, M. Bernstein, Gary, additional, Sako, Masao, additional, Bernadinelli, Pedro, additional, Tucker, Douglas, additional, Allam, Sahar, additional, C. Becker, Juliette, additional, Khain, Tali, additional, Markwardt, Larissa, additional, Franson, Kyle, additional, Abbott, T.M.C., additional, Annis, J., additional, Avila, S., additional, Brooks, D., additional, Carnero Rosell, A., additional, Carrasco Kind, M., additional, Cunha, C.E., additional, D’Andrea, C.B., additional, da Costa, L.N., additional, De Vicente, J., additional, Doel, P., additional, Eifler, T.F., additional, Flaugher, B., additional, García-Bellido, J., additional, Hollowood, D.L., additional, Honscheid, Klaus, additional, James, D.J., additional, Kuehn, K., additional, Kuropatkin, N., additional, Maia, M.A.G., additional, Marshall, J.L., additional, Miquel, R., additional, Plazas, A.A., additional, Romer, A.K., additional, Sanchez, E., additional, Scarpine, V., additional, Sevilla-Noarbe, I., additional, Smith, M., additional, Smith, R.C., additional, Soares-Santos, M., additional, Sobreira, F., additional, Suchyta, E., additional, Tarle, G., additional, Walker, A.R., additional, and Wester, W., additional

Published
2019
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8. Evidence for Dynamically Driven Formation of the GW170817 Neutron Star Binary in NGC 4993

Author

Palmese, A., Hartley, W., Tarsitano, F., Conselice, Christopher J., Lahav, O., Allam, S., Annis, J., Lin, H., Soares-Santos, M., Tucker, D., Brout, D., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Diehl, H.T., Fruchter, A., Herner, K., Levan, A.J., Li, T.S., Lidman, C., Misra, K., Sako, M., Scolnic, D., Smith, M., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Cunha, C.E., da Costa, L.N., Davis, C., DePoy, D.L., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Drlica-Wagner, A., Eifler, T.F., Evrard, A.E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Frieman, J., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R.A., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Honscheid, K., Jain, B., James, D.J., Jeltema, T., Johnson, M.W.G., Johnson, M.D., Krause, E., Kron, R., Kuehn, K., Kuhlmann, S., Kuropatkin, N., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., Marshall, J.L., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miller, C.J., Miquel, R., Neilsen, E., Ogando, R.L.C., Plazas, A.A., Reil, K., Romer, A.K., Sanchez, E., Schindler, R., Smith, R.C., Sobreira, F., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Walker, A.R., Weller, J., Zhang, Y., and Zuntz, J.

Subjects
Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, galaxies: structure – gravitational waves, galaxies: individual (NGC 4993), Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, galaxies: evolution, Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics
Abstract

We present a study of NGC 4993, the host galaxy of the GW170817 gravitational-wave event, the GRB 170817A short gamma-ray burst (sGRB), and the AT 2017gfo kilonova. We use Dark Energy Camera imaging, AAT spectra, and publicly available data, relating our findings to binary neutron star (BNS) formation scenarios and merger delay timescales. NGC 4993 is a nearby early-type galaxy, with an i-band Sérsic index n = 4.0 and low asymmetry (A = 0.04 ± 0.01). These properties are unusual for sGRB hosts. However, NGC 4993 presents shell-like structures and dust lanes indicative of a recent galaxy merger, with the optical transient located close to a shell. We constrain the star formation history (SFH) of the galaxy assuming that the galaxy merger produced a star formation burst, but find little to no ongoing star formation in either spatially resolved broadband SED or spectral fitting. We use the best-fit SFH to estimate the BNS merger rate in this type of galaxy, as ${R}_{\mathrm{NSM}}^{\mathrm{gal}}={5.7}_{-3.3}^{+0.57}\times {10}^{-6}{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}$. If star formation is the only considered BNS formation scenario, the expected number of BNS mergers from early-type galaxies detectable with LIGO during its first two observing seasons is ${0.038}_{-0.022}^{+0.004}$, as opposed to ~0.5 from all galaxy types. Hypothesizing that the binary formed due to dynamical interactions during the galaxy merger, the subsequent time elapsed can constrain the delay time of the BNS coalescence. By using velocity dispersion estimates and the position of the shells, we find that the galaxy merger occurred t mer lesssim 200 Myr prior to the BNS coalescence.

Published
2017

9. The Electromagnetic Counterpart of the Binary Neutron Star Merger LIGO/Virgo GW170817. I. Discovery of the Optical Counterpart Using the Dark Energy Camera

Author

Soares-Santos, M., Holz, D.E., Annis, J., Chornock, R., Herner, K., Berger, E., Brout, D., Chen, H.-Y., Kessler, R., Sako, M., Allam, S., Tucker, DL., Butler, R. E., Palmese, A., Doctor, Z., Diehl, H.T., Frieman, J., Yanny, B., Lin, H., Scolnic, D., Cowperthwaite, P., Neilsen, E., Marriner, J., Kuropatkin, N., Hartley, W.G., Alexander, K.D., Balbinot, E., Blanchard, P., Brown, D.A., Carlin, J.L., Conselice, Christopher J., Cook, E.R., Drlica-Wagner, A., Drout, M.R., Durret, F., Eftekhari, T., Farr, B., Finley, D.A., Foley, R.J., Fong, W., Fryer, C.L., Gill, M.S.S., Gruendl, R.A., Hanna, C., Kasen, D., Li, T.S., Lopes, P.A.A., Margutti, R., Marshall, J.L., Matheson, T., Medina, G.E., Metzger, B.D., Muir, J., Nicholl, M., Quataert, E., Rest, A., Sauseda, M., Schlegel, D.J., Secco, L.F., Sobreira, F., Stebbins, A., Villar, V.A., Vivas, K., Walker, A.R., Wester, W., Williams, P.K.G., Zenteno, A., Zhang, Y., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Burke, D.L., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Crocce, M., Cunha, C.E., Costa, L.N. da, Davis, C., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Eifler, T.F., Fernandez, E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Goldstein, D.A., Gruen, D., Gschwend, J., 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., Kuhlmann, S., Lahav, O., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Mohr, J.J., Nichol, R.C., Nord, B., Ogando, R.L C., Petravick, D., Plazas, A.A., Romer, A.K., Roodman, A., Rykoff, E.S., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schubnell, M., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Smith, R.C., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Troxel, M.A., Vikram, V., Wechsler, R.H., and Weller, J.

Subjects
binaries: close— catalogs— gravitational waves — stars: neutron— surveys
Abstract

We present the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) discovery of the optical counterpart of the first binary neutron star merger detected through gravitational wave emission, GW170817. Our observations commenced 10.5 hours post-merger, as soon as the localization region became accessible from Chile. We imaged 70 deg2 in the i and z bands, covering 93% of the initial integrated localization probability, to a depth necessary to identify likely optical counterparts (e.g., a kilonova). At 11.4 hours post-merger we detected a bright optical transient located 10:600 from the nucleus of NGC4993 at redshift z = 0:0098, consistent (for H0 = 70 km s-1 Mpc-1) with the distance of 40±8 Mpc reported by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration (LVC). At detection the transient had magnitudes i=17.3 and z=17.4, and thus an absolute magnitude of Mi = -15.7, in the luminosity range expected for a kilonova. We identified 1,500 potential transient candidates. Applying simple selection criteria aimed at rejecting background events such as supernovae, we find the transient associated with NGC4993 as the only remaining plausible counterpart, and reject chance coincidence at the 99.5% confidence level. We therefore conclude that the optical counterpart we have identified near NGC4993 is associated with GW170817. This discovery ushers in the era of multi-messenger astronomy with gravitational waves, and demonstrates the power of DECam to identify the optical counterparts of gravitational-wave sources.

Published
2017

10. Evidence for dynamically driven formation of the GW170817 neutron star binary in NGC 4993

Author

Palmese, A., Hartley, W., Tarsitano, F., Conselice, Christopher J., Lahav, O., Allam, S., Annis, J., Lin, H., Soares-Santos, M., Tucker, D., Brout, D., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Diehl, H.T., Fruchter, A., García-Bellido, J., Herner, K., Levan, A.J., Li, T.S., Lidman, C., Misra, K., Sako, M., Scolnic, D., Smith, M., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., da Costa, L.N., Davis, C., DePoy, D.L., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Drlica-Wagner, A., Eifler, T.F., Evrard, A.E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Frieman, J., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R.A., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Honscheid, K., Jain, B., James, D.J., Jeltema, T., Johnson, M.W.G., Johnson, M.D., Krause, E., Kron, R., Kuehn, K., Kuhlmann, S., Kuropatkin, N., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., Marshall, J.L., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miller, C.J., Miquel, R., Neilsen, E., Ogando, R.L.C., Plazas, A.A., Reil, K., Romer, A.K., Sanchez, E., Schindler, R., Smith, R.C., Sobreira, F., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Walker, A.R., Weller, J., Zhang, Y., Zuntz, J., Palmese, A., Hartley, W., Tarsitano, F., Conselice, Christopher J., Lahav, O., Allam, S., Annis, J., Lin, H., Soares-Santos, M., Tucker, D., Brout, D., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Diehl, H.T., Fruchter, A., García-Bellido, J., Herner, K., Levan, A.J., Li, T.S., Lidman, C., Misra, K., Sako, M., Scolnic, D., Smith, M., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., da Costa, L.N., Davis, C., DePoy, D.L., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Drlica-Wagner, A., Eifler, T.F., Evrard, A.E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Frieman, J., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R.A., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Honscheid, K., Jain, B., James, D.J., Jeltema, T., Johnson, M.W.G., Johnson, M.D., Krause, E., Kron, R., Kuehn, K., Kuhlmann, S., Kuropatkin, N., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., Marshall, J.L., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miller, C.J., Miquel, R., Neilsen, E., Ogando, R.L.C., Plazas, A.A., Reil, K., Romer, A.K., Sanchez, E., Schindler, R., Smith, R.C., Sobreira, F., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Walker, A.R., Weller, J., Zhang, Y., and Zuntz, J.

Abstract

We present a study of NGC 4993, the host galaxy of the GW170817 gravitational-wave event, the GRB 170817A short gamma-ray burst (sGRB), and the AT 2017gfo kilonova. We use Dark Energy Camera imaging, AAT spectra, and publicly available data, relating our findings to binary neutron star (BNS) formation scenarios and merger delay timescales. NGC 4993 is a nearby early-type galaxy, with an i-band Sérsic index n = 4.0 and low asymmetry (A = 0.04 ± 0.01). These properties are unusual for sGRB hosts. However, NGC 4993 presents shell-like structures and dust lanes indicative of a recent galaxy merger, with the optical transient located close to a shell. We constrain the star formation history (SFH) of the galaxy assuming that the galaxy merger produced a star formation burst, but find little to no ongoing star formation in either spatially resolved broadband SED or spectral fitting. We use the best-fit SFH to estimate the BNS merger rate in this type of galaxy, as ${R}_{\mathrm{NSM}}^{\mathrm{gal}}={5.7}_{-3.3}^{+0.57}\times {10}^{-6}{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}$. If star formation is the only considered BNS formation scenario, the expected number of BNS mergers from early-type galaxies detectable with LIGO during its first two observing seasons is ${0.038}_{-0.022}^{+0.004}$, as opposed to ~0.5 from all galaxy types. Hypothesizing that the binary formed due to dynamical interactions during the galaxy merger, the subsequent time elapsed can constrain the delay time of the BNS coalescence. By using velocity dispersion estimates and the position of the shells, we find that the galaxy merger occurred t mer lesssim 200 Myr prior to the BNS coalescence.

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11. The electromagnetic counterpart of the binary neutron star merger LIGO/Virgo GW170817. I. Discovery of the optical counterpart using the Dark Energy Camera

Author

Soares-Santos, M., Holz, D.E., Annis, J., Chornock, R., Herner, K., Berger, E., Brout, D., Chen, H.-Y., Kessler, R., Sako, M., Allam, S., Tucker, DL., Butler, R. E., Palmese, A., Doctor, Z., Diehl, H.T., Frieman, J., Yanny, B., Lin, H., Scolnic, D., Cowperthwaite, P., Neilsen, E., Marriner, J., Kuropatkin, N., Hartley, W.G., Paz-Chinchón, F., Alexander, K.D., Balbinot, E., Blanchard, P., Brown, D.A., Carlin, J.L., Conselice, Christopher J., Cook, E.R., Drlica-Wagner, A., Drout, M.R., Durret, F., Eftekhari, T., Farr, B., Finley, D.A., Foley, R.J., Fong, W., Fryer, C.L., García-Bellido, J., Gill, M.S.S., Gruendl, R.A., Hanna, C., Kasen, D., Li, T.S., Lopes, P.A.A., Lourenço, A.C.C., Margutti, R., Marshall, J.L., Matheson, T., Medina, G.E., Metzger, B.D., Muñoz, R.R., Muir, J., Nicholl, M., Quataert, E., Rest, A., Sauseda, M., Schlegel, D.J., Secco, L.F., Sobreira, F., Stebbins, A., Villar, V.A., Vivas, K., Walker, A.R., Wester, W., Williams, P.K.G., Zenteno, A., Zhang, Y., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Burke, D.L., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Crocce, M., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., Costa, L.N. da, Davis, C., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Eifler, T.F., Fernandez, E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Goldstein, D.A., Gruen, D., Gschwend, J., 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., Kuhlmann, S., Lahav, O., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Mohr, J.J., Nichol, R.C., Nord, B., Ogando, R.L C., Petravick, D., Plazas, A.A., Romer, A.K., Roodman, A., Rykoff, E.S., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schubnell, M., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Smith, R.C., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Troxel, M.A., Vikram, V., Wechsler, R.H., Weller, J., Soares-Santos, M., Holz, D.E., Annis, J., Chornock, R., Herner, K., Berger, E., Brout, D., Chen, H.-Y., Kessler, R., Sako, M., Allam, S., Tucker, DL., Butler, R. E., Palmese, A., Doctor, Z., Diehl, H.T., Frieman, J., Yanny, B., Lin, H., Scolnic, D., Cowperthwaite, P., Neilsen, E., Marriner, J., Kuropatkin, N., Hartley, W.G., Paz-Chinchón, F., Alexander, K.D., Balbinot, E., Blanchard, P., Brown, D.A., Carlin, J.L., Conselice, Christopher J., Cook, E.R., Drlica-Wagner, A., Drout, M.R., Durret, F., Eftekhari, T., Farr, B., Finley, D.A., Foley, R.J., Fong, W., Fryer, C.L., García-Bellido, J., Gill, M.S.S., Gruendl, R.A., Hanna, C., Kasen, D., Li, T.S., Lopes, P.A.A., Lourenço, A.C.C., Margutti, R., Marshall, J.L., Matheson, T., Medina, G.E., Metzger, B.D., Muñoz, R.R., Muir, J., Nicholl, M., Quataert, E., Rest, A., Sauseda, M., Schlegel, D.J., Secco, L.F., Sobreira, F., Stebbins, A., Villar, V.A., Vivas, K., Walker, A.R., Wester, W., Williams, P.K.G., Zenteno, A., Zhang, Y., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Burke, D.L., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Crocce, M., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., Costa, L.N. da, Davis, C., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Eifler, T.F., Fernandez, E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Goldstein, D.A., Gruen, D., Gschwend, J., 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., Kuhlmann, S., Lahav, O., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Mohr, J.J., Nichol, R.C., Nord, B., Ogando, R.L C., Petravick, D., Plazas, A.A., Romer, A.K., Roodman, A., Rykoff, E.S., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schubnell, M., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Smith, R.C., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Troxel, M.A., Vikram, V., Wechsler, R.H., and Weller, J.

Abstract

We present the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) discovery of the optical counterpart of the first binary neutron star merger detected through gravitational wave emission, GW170817. Our observations commenced 10.5 hours post-merger, as soon as the localization region became accessible from Chile. We imaged 70 deg2 in the i and z bands, covering 93% of the initial integrated localization probability, to a depth necessary to identify likely optical counterparts (e.g., a kilonova). At 11.4 hours post-merger we detected a bright optical transient located 10:600 from the nucleus of NGC4993 at redshift z = 0:0098, consistent (for H0 = 70 km s-1 Mpc-1) with the distance of 40±8 Mpc reported by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration (LVC). At detection the transient had magnitudes i=17.3 and z=17.4, and thus an absolute magnitude of Mi = -15.7, in the luminosity range expected for a kilonova. We identified 1,500 potential transient candidates. Applying simple selection criteria aimed at rejecting background events such as supernovae, we find the transient associated with NGC4993 as the only remaining plausible counterpart, and reject chance coincidence at the 99.5% confidence level. We therefore conclude that the optical counterpart we have identified near NGC4993 is associated with GW170817. This discovery ushers in the era of multi-messenger astronomy with gravitational waves, and demonstrates the power of DECam to identify the optical counterparts of gravitational-wave sources.

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12. The electromagnetic counterpart of the binary neutron star merger LIGO/Virgo GW170817. I. Discovery of the optical counterpart using the Dark Energy Camera

Author

Soares-Santos, M., Holz, D.E., Annis, J., Chornock, R., Herner, K., Berger, E., Brout, D., Chen, H.-Y., Kessler, R., Sako, M., Allam, S., Tucker, DL., Butler, R. E., Palmese, A., Doctor, Z., Diehl, H.T., Frieman, J., Yanny, B., Lin, H., Scolnic, D., Cowperthwaite, P., Neilsen, E., Marriner, J., Kuropatkin, N., Hartley, W.G., Paz-Chinchón, F., Alexander, K.D., Balbinot, E., Blanchard, P., Brown, D.A., Carlin, J.L., Conselice, Christopher J., Cook, E.R., Drlica-Wagner, A., Drout, M.R., Durret, F., Eftekhari, T., Farr, B., Finley, D.A., Foley, R.J., Fong, W., Fryer, C.L., García-Bellido, J., Gill, M.S.S., Gruendl, R.A., Hanna, C., Kasen, D., Li, T.S., Lopes, P.A.A., Lourenço, A.C.C., Margutti, R., Marshall, J.L., Matheson, T., Medina, G.E., Metzger, B.D., Muñoz, R.R., Muir, J., Nicholl, M., Quataert, E., Rest, A., Sauseda, M., Schlegel, D.J., Secco, L.F., Sobreira, F., Stebbins, A., Villar, V.A., Vivas, K., Walker, A.R., Wester, W., Williams, P.K.G., Zenteno, A., Zhang, Y., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Burke, D.L., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Crocce, M., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., Costa, L.N. da, Davis, C., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Eifler, T.F., Fernandez, E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Goldstein, D.A., Gruen, D., Gschwend, J., 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., Kuhlmann, S., Lahav, O., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Mohr, J.J., Nichol, R.C., Nord, B., Ogando, R.L C., Petravick, D., Plazas, A.A., Romer, A.K., Roodman, A., Rykoff, E.S., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schubnell, M., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Smith, R.C., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Troxel, M.A., Vikram, V., Wechsler, R.H., Weller, J., Soares-Santos, M., Holz, D.E., Annis, J., Chornock, R., Herner, K., Berger, E., Brout, D., Chen, H.-Y., Kessler, R., Sako, M., Allam, S., Tucker, DL., Butler, R. E., Palmese, A., Doctor, Z., Diehl, H.T., Frieman, J., Yanny, B., Lin, H., Scolnic, D., Cowperthwaite, P., Neilsen, E., Marriner, J., Kuropatkin, N., Hartley, W.G., Paz-Chinchón, F., Alexander, K.D., Balbinot, E., Blanchard, P., Brown, D.A., Carlin, J.L., Conselice, Christopher J., Cook, E.R., Drlica-Wagner, A., Drout, M.R., Durret, F., Eftekhari, T., Farr, B., Finley, D.A., Foley, R.J., Fong, W., Fryer, C.L., García-Bellido, J., Gill, M.S.S., Gruendl, R.A., Hanna, C., Kasen, D., Li, T.S., Lopes, P.A.A., Lourenço, A.C.C., Margutti, R., Marshall, J.L., Matheson, T., Medina, G.E., Metzger, B.D., Muñoz, R.R., Muir, J., Nicholl, M., Quataert, E., Rest, A., Sauseda, M., Schlegel, D.J., Secco, L.F., Sobreira, F., Stebbins, A., Villar, V.A., Vivas, K., Walker, A.R., Wester, W., Williams, P.K.G., Zenteno, A., Zhang, Y., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Burke, D.L., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Crocce, M., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., Costa, L.N. da, Davis, C., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Eifler, T.F., Fernandez, E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Goldstein, D.A., Gruen, D., Gschwend, J., 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., Kuhlmann, S., Lahav, O., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Mohr, J.J., Nichol, R.C., Nord, B., Ogando, R.L C., Petravick, D., Plazas, A.A., Romer, A.K., Roodman, A., Rykoff, E.S., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schubnell, M., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Smith, R.C., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Troxel, M.A., Vikram, V., Wechsler, R.H., and Weller, J.

Abstract

We present the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) discovery of the optical counterpart of the first binary neutron star merger detected through gravitational wave emission, GW170817. Our observations commenced 10.5 hours post-merger, as soon as the localization region became accessible from Chile. We imaged 70 deg2 in the i and z bands, covering 93% of the initial integrated localization probability, to a depth necessary to identify likely optical counterparts (e.g., a kilonova). At 11.4 hours post-merger we detected a bright optical transient located 10:600 from the nucleus of NGC4993 at redshift z = 0:0098, consistent (for H0 = 70 km s-1 Mpc-1) with the distance of 40±8 Mpc reported by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration (LVC). At detection the transient had magnitudes i=17.3 and z=17.4, and thus an absolute magnitude of Mi = -15.7, in the luminosity range expected for a kilonova. We identified 1,500 potential transient candidates. Applying simple selection criteria aimed at rejecting background events such as supernovae, we find the transient associated with NGC4993 as the only remaining plausible counterpart, and reject chance coincidence at the 99.5% confidence level. We therefore conclude that the optical counterpart we have identified near NGC4993 is associated with GW170817. This discovery ushers in the era of multi-messenger astronomy with gravitational waves, and demonstrates the power of DECam to identify the optical counterparts of gravitational-wave sources.

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13. The electromagnetic counterpart of the binary neutron star merger LIGO/Virgo GW170817. I. Discovery of the optical counterpart using the Dark Energy Camera

Author

Soares-Santos, M., Holz, D.E., Annis, J., Chornock, R., Herner, K., Berger, E., Brout, D., Chen, H.-Y., Kessler, R., Sako, M., Allam, S., Tucker, DL., Butler, R. E., Palmese, A., Doctor, Z., Diehl, H.T., Frieman, J., Yanny, B., Lin, H., Scolnic, D., Cowperthwaite, P., Neilsen, E., Marriner, J., Kuropatkin, N., Hartley, W.G., Paz-Chinchón, F., Alexander, K.D., Balbinot, E., Blanchard, P., Brown, D.A., Carlin, J.L., Conselice, Christopher J., Cook, E.R., Drlica-Wagner, A., Drout, M.R., Durret, F., Eftekhari, T., Farr, B., Finley, D.A., Foley, R.J., Fong, W., Fryer, C.L., García-Bellido, J., Gill, M.S.S., Gruendl, R.A., Hanna, C., Kasen, D., Li, T.S., Lopes, P.A.A., Lourenço, A.C.C., Margutti, R., Marshall, J.L., Matheson, T., Medina, G.E., Metzger, B.D., Muñoz, R.R., Muir, J., Nicholl, M., Quataert, E., Rest, A., Sauseda, M., Schlegel, D.J., Secco, L.F., Sobreira, F., Stebbins, A., Villar, V.A., Vivas, K., Walker, A.R., Wester, W., Williams, P.K.G., Zenteno, A., Zhang, Y., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Burke, D.L., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Crocce, M., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., Costa, L.N. da, Davis, C., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Eifler, T.F., Fernandez, E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Goldstein, D.A., Gruen, D., Gschwend, J., 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., Kuhlmann, S., Lahav, O., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Mohr, J.J., Nichol, R.C., Nord, B., Ogando, R.L C., Petravick, D., Plazas, A.A., Romer, A.K., Roodman, A., Rykoff, E.S., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schubnell, M., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Smith, R.C., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Troxel, M.A., Vikram, V., Wechsler, R.H., Weller, J., Soares-Santos, M., Holz, D.E., Annis, J., Chornock, R., Herner, K., Berger, E., Brout, D., Chen, H.-Y., Kessler, R., Sako, M., Allam, S., Tucker, DL., Butler, R. E., Palmese, A., Doctor, Z., Diehl, H.T., Frieman, J., Yanny, B., Lin, H., Scolnic, D., Cowperthwaite, P., Neilsen, E., Marriner, J., Kuropatkin, N., Hartley, W.G., Paz-Chinchón, F., Alexander, K.D., Balbinot, E., Blanchard, P., Brown, D.A., Carlin, J.L., Conselice, Christopher J., Cook, E.R., Drlica-Wagner, A., Drout, M.R., Durret, F., Eftekhari, T., Farr, B., Finley, D.A., Foley, R.J., Fong, W., Fryer, C.L., García-Bellido, J., Gill, M.S.S., Gruendl, R.A., Hanna, C., Kasen, D., Li, T.S., Lopes, P.A.A., Lourenço, A.C.C., Margutti, R., Marshall, J.L., Matheson, T., Medina, G.E., Metzger, B.D., Muñoz, R.R., Muir, J., Nicholl, M., Quataert, E., Rest, A., Sauseda, M., Schlegel, D.J., Secco, L.F., Sobreira, F., Stebbins, A., Villar, V.A., Vivas, K., Walker, A.R., Wester, W., Williams, P.K.G., Zenteno, A., Zhang, Y., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Burke, D.L., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Crocce, M., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., Costa, L.N. da, Davis, C., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Eifler, T.F., Fernandez, E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Goldstein, D.A., Gruen, D., Gschwend, J., 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., Kuhlmann, S., Lahav, O., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Mohr, J.J., Nichol, R.C., Nord, B., Ogando, R.L C., Petravick, D., Plazas, A.A., Romer, A.K., Roodman, A., Rykoff, E.S., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schubnell, M., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Smith, R.C., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Troxel, M.A., Vikram, V., Wechsler, R.H., and Weller, J.

Abstract

We present the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) discovery of the optical counterpart of the first binary neutron star merger detected through gravitational wave emission, GW170817. Our observations commenced 10.5 hours post-merger, as soon as the localization region became accessible from Chile. We imaged 70 deg2 in the i and z bands, covering 93% of the initial integrated localization probability, to a depth necessary to identify likely optical counterparts (e.g., a kilonova). At 11.4 hours post-merger we detected a bright optical transient located 10:600 from the nucleus of NGC4993 at redshift z = 0:0098, consistent (for H0 = 70 km s-1 Mpc-1) with the distance of 40±8 Mpc reported by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration (LVC). At detection the transient had magnitudes i=17.3 and z=17.4, and thus an absolute magnitude of Mi = -15.7, in the luminosity range expected for a kilonova. We identified 1,500 potential transient candidates. Applying simple selection criteria aimed at rejecting background events such as supernovae, we find the transient associated with NGC4993 as the only remaining plausible counterpart, and reject chance coincidence at the 99.5% confidence level. We therefore conclude that the optical counterpart we have identified near NGC4993 is associated with GW170817. This discovery ushers in the era of multi-messenger astronomy with gravitational waves, and demonstrates the power of DECam to identify the optical counterparts of gravitational-wave sources.

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14. Evidence for dynamically driven formation of the GW170817 neutron star binary in NGC 4993

Author

Palmese, A., Hartley, W., Tarsitano, F., Conselice, Christopher J., Lahav, O., Allam, S., Annis, J., Lin, H., Soares-Santos, M., Tucker, D., Brout, D., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Diehl, H.T., Fruchter, A., García-Bellido, J., Herner, K., Levan, A.J., Li, T.S., Lidman, C., Misra, K., Sako, M., Scolnic, D., Smith, M., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., da Costa, L.N., Davis, C., DePoy, D.L., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Drlica-Wagner, A., Eifler, T.F., Evrard, A.E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Frieman, J., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R.A., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Honscheid, K., Jain, B., James, D.J., Jeltema, T., Johnson, M.W.G., Johnson, M.D., Krause, E., Kron, R., Kuehn, K., Kuhlmann, S., Kuropatkin, N., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., Marshall, J.L., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miller, C.J., Miquel, R., Neilsen, E., Ogando, R.L.C., Plazas, A.A., Reil, K., Romer, A.K., Sanchez, E., Schindler, R., Smith, R.C., Sobreira, F., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Walker, A.R., Weller, J., Zhang, Y., Zuntz, J., Palmese, A., Hartley, W., Tarsitano, F., Conselice, Christopher J., Lahav, O., Allam, S., Annis, J., Lin, H., Soares-Santos, M., Tucker, D., Brout, D., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Diehl, H.T., Fruchter, A., García-Bellido, J., Herner, K., Levan, A.J., Li, T.S., Lidman, C., Misra, K., Sako, M., Scolnic, D., Smith, M., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., da Costa, L.N., Davis, C., DePoy, D.L., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Drlica-Wagner, A., Eifler, T.F., Evrard, A.E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Frieman, J., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R.A., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Honscheid, K., Jain, B., James, D.J., Jeltema, T., Johnson, M.W.G., Johnson, M.D., Krause, E., Kron, R., Kuehn, K., Kuhlmann, S., Kuropatkin, N., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., Marshall, J.L., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miller, C.J., Miquel, R., Neilsen, E., Ogando, R.L.C., Plazas, A.A., Reil, K., Romer, A.K., Sanchez, E., Schindler, R., Smith, R.C., Sobreira, F., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Walker, A.R., Weller, J., Zhang, Y., and Zuntz, J.

Abstract

We present a study of NGC 4993, the host galaxy of the GW170817 gravitational-wave event, the GRB 170817A short gamma-ray burst (sGRB), and the AT 2017gfo kilonova. We use Dark Energy Camera imaging, AAT spectra, and publicly available data, relating our findings to binary neutron star (BNS) formation scenarios and merger delay timescales. NGC 4993 is a nearby early-type galaxy, with an i-band Sérsic index n = 4.0 and low asymmetry (A = 0.04 ± 0.01). These properties are unusual for sGRB hosts. However, NGC 4993 presents shell-like structures and dust lanes indicative of a recent galaxy merger, with the optical transient located close to a shell. We constrain the star formation history (SFH) of the galaxy assuming that the galaxy merger produced a star formation burst, but find little to no ongoing star formation in either spatially resolved broadband SED or spectral fitting. We use the best-fit SFH to estimate the BNS merger rate in this type of galaxy, as ${R}_{\mathrm{NSM}}^{\mathrm{gal}}={5.7}_{-3.3}^{+0.57}\times {10}^{-6}{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}$. If star formation is the only considered BNS formation scenario, the expected number of BNS mergers from early-type galaxies detectable with LIGO during its first two observing seasons is ${0.038}_{-0.022}^{+0.004}$, as opposed to ~0.5 from all galaxy types. Hypothesizing that the binary formed due to dynamical interactions during the galaxy merger, the subsequent time elapsed can constrain the delay time of the BNS coalescence. By using velocity dispersion estimates and the position of the shells, we find that the galaxy merger occurred t mer lesssim 200 Myr prior to the BNS coalescence.

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15. The electromagnetic counterpart of the binary neutron star merger LIGO/Virgo GW170817. I. Discovery of the optical counterpart using the Dark Energy Camera

Author

Soares-Santos, M., Holz, D.E., Annis, J., Chornock, R., Herner, K., Berger, E., Brout, D., Chen, H.-Y., Kessler, R., Sako, M., Allam, S., Tucker, DL., Butler, R. E., Palmese, A., Doctor, Z., Diehl, H.T., Frieman, J., Yanny, B., Lin, H., Scolnic, D., Cowperthwaite, P., Neilsen, E., Marriner, J., Kuropatkin, N., Hartley, W.G., Paz-Chinchón, F., Alexander, K.D., Balbinot, E., Blanchard, P., Brown, D.A., Carlin, J.L., Conselice, Christopher J., Cook, E.R., Drlica-Wagner, A., Drout, M.R., Durret, F., Eftekhari, T., Farr, B., Finley, D.A., Foley, R.J., Fong, W., Fryer, C.L., García-Bellido, J., Gill, M.S.S., Gruendl, R.A., Hanna, C., Kasen, D., Li, T.S., Lopes, P.A.A., Lourenço, A.C.C., Margutti, R., Marshall, J.L., Matheson, T., Medina, G.E., Metzger, B.D., Muñoz, R.R., Muir, J., Nicholl, M., Quataert, E., Rest, A., Sauseda, M., Schlegel, D.J., Secco, L.F., Sobreira, F., Stebbins, A., Villar, V.A., Vivas, K., Walker, A.R., Wester, W., Williams, P.K.G., Zenteno, A., Zhang, Y., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Burke, D.L., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Crocce, M., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., Costa, L.N. da, Davis, C., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Eifler, T.F., Fernandez, E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Goldstein, D.A., Gruen, D., Gschwend, J., 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., Kuhlmann, S., Lahav, O., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Mohr, J.J., Nichol, R.C., Nord, B., Ogando, R.L C., Petravick, D., Plazas, A.A., Romer, A.K., Roodman, A., Rykoff, E.S., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schubnell, M., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Smith, R.C., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Troxel, M.A., Vikram, V., Wechsler, R.H., Weller, J., Soares-Santos, M., Holz, D.E., Annis, J., Chornock, R., Herner, K., Berger, E., Brout, D., Chen, H.-Y., Kessler, R., Sako, M., Allam, S., Tucker, DL., Butler, R. E., Palmese, A., Doctor, Z., Diehl, H.T., Frieman, J., Yanny, B., Lin, H., Scolnic, D., Cowperthwaite, P., Neilsen, E., Marriner, J., Kuropatkin, N., Hartley, W.G., Paz-Chinchón, F., Alexander, K.D., Balbinot, E., Blanchard, P., Brown, D.A., Carlin, J.L., Conselice, Christopher J., Cook, E.R., Drlica-Wagner, A., Drout, M.R., Durret, F., Eftekhari, T., Farr, B., Finley, D.A., Foley, R.J., Fong, W., Fryer, C.L., García-Bellido, J., Gill, M.S.S., Gruendl, R.A., Hanna, C., Kasen, D., Li, T.S., Lopes, P.A.A., Lourenço, A.C.C., Margutti, R., Marshall, J.L., Matheson, T., Medina, G.E., Metzger, B.D., Muñoz, R.R., Muir, J., Nicholl, M., Quataert, E., Rest, A., Sauseda, M., Schlegel, D.J., Secco, L.F., Sobreira, F., Stebbins, A., Villar, V.A., Vivas, K., Walker, A.R., Wester, W., Williams, P.K.G., Zenteno, A., Zhang, Y., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Burke, D.L., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Crocce, M., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., Costa, L.N. da, Davis, C., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Eifler, T.F., Fernandez, E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Goldstein, D.A., Gruen, D., Gschwend, J., 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., Kuhlmann, S., Lahav, O., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Mohr, J.J., Nichol, R.C., Nord, B., Ogando, R.L C., Petravick, D., Plazas, A.A., Romer, A.K., Roodman, A., Rykoff, E.S., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schubnell, M., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Smith, R.C., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Troxel, M.A., Vikram, V., Wechsler, R.H., and Weller, J.

Abstract

We present the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) discovery of the optical counterpart of the first binary neutron star merger detected through gravitational wave emission, GW170817. Our observations commenced 10.5 hours post-merger, as soon as the localization region became accessible from Chile. We imaged 70 deg2 in the i and z bands, covering 93% of the initial integrated localization probability, to a depth necessary to identify likely optical counterparts (e.g., a kilonova). At 11.4 hours post-merger we detected a bright optical transient located 10:600 from the nucleus of NGC4993 at redshift z = 0:0098, consistent (for H0 = 70 km s-1 Mpc-1) with the distance of 40±8 Mpc reported by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration (LVC). At detection the transient had magnitudes i=17.3 and z=17.4, and thus an absolute magnitude of Mi = -15.7, in the luminosity range expected for a kilonova. We identified 1,500 potential transient candidates. Applying simple selection criteria aimed at rejecting background events such as supernovae, we find the transient associated with NGC4993 as the only remaining plausible counterpart, and reject chance coincidence at the 99.5% confidence level. We therefore conclude that the optical counterpart we have identified near NGC4993 is associated with GW170817. This discovery ushers in the era of multi-messenger astronomy with gravitational waves, and demonstrates the power of DECam to identify the optical counterparts of gravitational-wave sources.

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16. Evidence for dynamically driven formation of the GW170817 neutron star binary in NGC 4993

Author

Palmese, A., Hartley, W., Tarsitano, F., Conselice, Christopher J., Lahav, O., Allam, S., Annis, J., Lin, H., Soares-Santos, M., Tucker, D., Brout, D., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Diehl, H.T., Fruchter, A., García-Bellido, J., Herner, K., Levan, A.J., Li, T.S., Lidman, C., Misra, K., Sako, M., Scolnic, D., Smith, M., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., da Costa, L.N., Davis, C., DePoy, D.L., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Drlica-Wagner, A., Eifler, T.F., Evrard, A.E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Frieman, J., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R.A., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Honscheid, K., Jain, B., James, D.J., Jeltema, T., Johnson, M.W.G., Johnson, M.D., Krause, E., Kron, R., Kuehn, K., Kuhlmann, S., Kuropatkin, N., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., Marshall, J.L., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miller, C.J., Miquel, R., Neilsen, E., Ogando, R.L.C., Plazas, A.A., Reil, K., Romer, A.K., Sanchez, E., Schindler, R., Smith, R.C., Sobreira, F., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Walker, A.R., Weller, J., Zhang, Y., Zuntz, J., Palmese, A., Hartley, W., Tarsitano, F., Conselice, Christopher J., Lahav, O., Allam, S., Annis, J., Lin, H., Soares-Santos, M., Tucker, D., Brout, D., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Diehl, H.T., Fruchter, A., García-Bellido, J., Herner, K., Levan, A.J., Li, T.S., Lidman, C., Misra, K., Sako, M., Scolnic, D., Smith, M., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., da Costa, L.N., Davis, C., DePoy, D.L., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Drlica-Wagner, A., Eifler, T.F., Evrard, A.E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Frieman, J., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R.A., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Honscheid, K., Jain, B., James, D.J., Jeltema, T., Johnson, M.W.G., Johnson, M.D., Krause, E., Kron, R., Kuehn, K., Kuhlmann, S., Kuropatkin, N., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., Marshall, J.L., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miller, C.J., Miquel, R., Neilsen, E., Ogando, R.L.C., Plazas, A.A., Reil, K., Romer, A.K., Sanchez, E., Schindler, R., Smith, R.C., Sobreira, F., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Walker, A.R., Weller, J., Zhang, Y., and Zuntz, J.

Abstract

We present a study of NGC 4993, the host galaxy of the GW170817 gravitational-wave event, the GRB 170817A short gamma-ray burst (sGRB), and the AT 2017gfo kilonova. We use Dark Energy Camera imaging, AAT spectra, and publicly available data, relating our findings to binary neutron star (BNS) formation scenarios and merger delay timescales. NGC 4993 is a nearby early-type galaxy, with an i-band Sérsic index n = 4.0 and low asymmetry (A = 0.04 ± 0.01). These properties are unusual for sGRB hosts. However, NGC 4993 presents shell-like structures and dust lanes indicative of a recent galaxy merger, with the optical transient located close to a shell. We constrain the star formation history (SFH) of the galaxy assuming that the galaxy merger produced a star formation burst, but find little to no ongoing star formation in either spatially resolved broadband SED or spectral fitting. We use the best-fit SFH to estimate the BNS merger rate in this type of galaxy, as ${R}_{\mathrm{NSM}}^{\mathrm{gal}}={5.7}_{-3.3}^{+0.57}\times {10}^{-6}{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}$. If star formation is the only considered BNS formation scenario, the expected number of BNS mergers from early-type galaxies detectable with LIGO during its first two observing seasons is ${0.038}_{-0.022}^{+0.004}$, as opposed to ~0.5 from all galaxy types. Hypothesizing that the binary formed due to dynamical interactions during the galaxy merger, the subsequent time elapsed can constrain the delay time of the BNS coalescence. By using velocity dispersion estimates and the position of the shells, we find that the galaxy merger occurred t mer lesssim 200 Myr prior to the BNS coalescence.

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17. Evidence for dynamically driven formation of the GW170817 neutron star binary in NGC 4993

Author

Palmese, A., Hartley, W., Tarsitano, F., Conselice, Christopher J., Lahav, O., Allam, S., Annis, J., Lin, H., Soares-Santos, M., Tucker, D., Brout, D., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Diehl, H.T., Fruchter, A., García-Bellido, J., Herner, K., Levan, A.J., Li, T.S., Lidman, C., Misra, K., Sako, M., Scolnic, D., Smith, M., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., da Costa, L.N., Davis, C., DePoy, D.L., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Drlica-Wagner, A., Eifler, T.F., Evrard, A.E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Frieman, J., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R.A., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Honscheid, K., Jain, B., James, D.J., Jeltema, T., Johnson, M.W.G., Johnson, M.D., Krause, E., Kron, R., Kuehn, K., Kuhlmann, S., Kuropatkin, N., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., Marshall, J.L., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miller, C.J., Miquel, R., Neilsen, E., Ogando, R.L.C., Plazas, A.A., Reil, K., Romer, A.K., Sanchez, E., Schindler, R., Smith, R.C., Sobreira, F., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Walker, A.R., Weller, J., Zhang, Y., Zuntz, J., Palmese, A., Hartley, W., Tarsitano, F., Conselice, Christopher J., Lahav, O., Allam, S., Annis, J., Lin, H., Soares-Santos, M., Tucker, D., Brout, D., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Diehl, H.T., Fruchter, A., García-Bellido, J., Herner, K., Levan, A.J., Li, T.S., Lidman, C., Misra, K., Sako, M., Scolnic, D., Smith, M., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., da Costa, L.N., Davis, C., DePoy, D.L., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Drlica-Wagner, A., Eifler, T.F., Evrard, A.E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Frieman, J., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Gruen, D., Gruendl, R.A., Gschwend, J., Gutierrez, G., Honscheid, K., Jain, B., James, D.J., Jeltema, T., Johnson, M.W.G., Johnson, M.D., Krause, E., Kron, R., Kuehn, K., Kuhlmann, S., Kuropatkin, N., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., Marshall, J.L., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miller, C.J., Miquel, R., Neilsen, E., Ogando, R.L.C., Plazas, A.A., Reil, K., Romer, A.K., Sanchez, E., Schindler, R., Smith, R.C., Sobreira, F., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Walker, A.R., Weller, J., Zhang, Y., and Zuntz, J.

Abstract

We present a study of NGC 4993, the host galaxy of the GW170817 gravitational-wave event, the GRB 170817A short gamma-ray burst (sGRB), and the AT 2017gfo kilonova. We use Dark Energy Camera imaging, AAT spectra, and publicly available data, relating our findings to binary neutron star (BNS) formation scenarios and merger delay timescales. NGC 4993 is a nearby early-type galaxy, with an i-band Sérsic index n = 4.0 and low asymmetry (A = 0.04 ± 0.01). These properties are unusual for sGRB hosts. However, NGC 4993 presents shell-like structures and dust lanes indicative of a recent galaxy merger, with the optical transient located close to a shell. We constrain the star formation history (SFH) of the galaxy assuming that the galaxy merger produced a star formation burst, but find little to no ongoing star formation in either spatially resolved broadband SED or spectral fitting. We use the best-fit SFH to estimate the BNS merger rate in this type of galaxy, as ${R}_{\mathrm{NSM}}^{\mathrm{gal}}={5.7}_{-3.3}^{+0.57}\times {10}^{-6}{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}$. If star formation is the only considered BNS formation scenario, the expected number of BNS mergers from early-type galaxies detectable with LIGO during its first two observing seasons is ${0.038}_{-0.022}^{+0.004}$, as opposed to ~0.5 from all galaxy types. Hypothesizing that the binary formed due to dynamical interactions during the galaxy merger, the subsequent time elapsed can constrain the delay time of the BNS coalescence. By using velocity dispersion estimates and the position of the shells, we find that the galaxy merger occurred t mer lesssim 200 Myr prior to the BNS coalescence.

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18. The electromagnetic counterpart of the binary neutron star merger LIGO/Virgo GW170817. I. Discovery of the optical counterpart using the Dark Energy Camera

Author

Soares-Santos, M., Holz, D.E., Annis, J., Chornock, R., Herner, K., Berger, E., Brout, D., Chen, H.-Y., Kessler, R., Sako, M., Allam, S., Tucker, DL., Butler, R. E., Palmese, A., Doctor, Z., Diehl, H.T., Frieman, J., Yanny, B., Lin, H., Scolnic, D., Cowperthwaite, P., Neilsen, E., Marriner, J., Kuropatkin, N., Hartley, W.G., Paz-Chinchón, F., Alexander, K.D., Balbinot, E., Blanchard, P., Brown, D.A., Carlin, J.L., Conselice, Christopher J., Cook, E.R., Drlica-Wagner, A., Drout, M.R., Durret, F., Eftekhari, T., Farr, B., Finley, D.A., Foley, R.J., Fong, W., Fryer, C.L., García-Bellido, J., Gill, M.S.S., Gruendl, R.A., Hanna, C., Kasen, D., Li, T.S., Lopes, P.A.A., Lourenço, A.C.C., Margutti, R., Marshall, J.L., Matheson, T., Medina, G.E., Metzger, B.D., Muñoz, R.R., Muir, J., Nicholl, M., Quataert, E., Rest, A., Sauseda, M., Schlegel, D.J., Secco, L.F., Sobreira, F., Stebbins, A., Villar, V.A., Vivas, K., Walker, A.R., Wester, W., Williams, P.K.G., Zenteno, A., Zhang, Y., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Burke, D.L., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Crocce, M., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., Costa, L.N. da, Davis, C., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Eifler, T.F., Fernandez, E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Goldstein, D.A., Gruen, D., Gschwend, J., 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., Kuhlmann, S., Lahav, O., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Mohr, J.J., Nichol, R.C., Nord, B., Ogando, R.L C., Petravick, D., Plazas, A.A., Romer, A.K., Roodman, A., Rykoff, E.S., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schubnell, M., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Smith, R.C., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Troxel, M.A., Vikram, V., Wechsler, R.H., Weller, J., Soares-Santos, M., Holz, D.E., Annis, J., Chornock, R., Herner, K., Berger, E., Brout, D., Chen, H.-Y., Kessler, R., Sako, M., Allam, S., Tucker, DL., Butler, R. E., Palmese, A., Doctor, Z., Diehl, H.T., Frieman, J., Yanny, B., Lin, H., Scolnic, D., Cowperthwaite, P., Neilsen, E., Marriner, J., Kuropatkin, N., Hartley, W.G., Paz-Chinchón, F., Alexander, K.D., Balbinot, E., Blanchard, P., Brown, D.A., Carlin, J.L., Conselice, Christopher J., Cook, E.R., Drlica-Wagner, A., Drout, M.R., Durret, F., Eftekhari, T., Farr, B., Finley, D.A., Foley, R.J., Fong, W., Fryer, C.L., García-Bellido, J., Gill, M.S.S., Gruendl, R.A., Hanna, C., Kasen, D., Li, T.S., Lopes, P.A.A., Lourenço, A.C.C., Margutti, R., Marshall, J.L., Matheson, T., Medina, G.E., Metzger, B.D., Muñoz, R.R., Muir, J., Nicholl, M., Quataert, E., Rest, A., Sauseda, M., Schlegel, D.J., Secco, L.F., Sobreira, F., Stebbins, A., Villar, V.A., Vivas, K., Walker, A.R., Wester, W., Williams, P.K.G., Zenteno, A., Zhang, Y., Abbott, T.M.C., Abdalla, F.B., Banerji, M., Bechtol, K., Benoit-Lévy, A., Bertin, E., Brooks, D., Buckley-Geer, E., Burke, D.L., Rosell, A. Carnero, Kind, M. Carrasco, Carretero, J., Castander, F.J., Crocce, M., Cunha, C.E., D’Andrea, C.B., Costa, L.N. da, Davis, C., Desai, S., Dietrich, J.P., Doel, P., Eifler, T.F., Fernandez, E., Flaugher, B., Fosalba, P., Gaztanaga, E., Gerdes, D.W., Giannantonio, T., Goldstein, D.A., Gruen, D., Gschwend, J., 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., Kuhlmann, S., Lahav, O., Lima, M., Maia, M.A.G., March, M., McMahon, R.G., Menanteau, F., Miquel, R., Mohr, J.J., Nichol, R.C., Nord, B., Ogando, R.L C., Petravick, D., Plazas, A.A., Romer, A.K., Roodman, A., Rykoff, E.S., Sanchez, E., Scarpine, V., Schubnell, M., Sevilla-Noarbe, I., Smith, M., Smith, R.C., Suchyta, E., Swanson, M.E.C., Tarle, G., Thomas, D., Thomas, R.C., Troxel, M.A., Vikram, V., Wechsler, R.H., and Weller, J.

Abstract

We present the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) discovery of the optical counterpart of the first binary neutron star merger detected through gravitational wave emission, GW170817. Our observations commenced 10.5 hours post-merger, as soon as the localization region became accessible from Chile. We imaged 70 deg2 in the i and z bands, covering 93% of the initial integrated localization probability, to a depth necessary to identify likely optical counterparts (e.g., a kilonova). At 11.4 hours post-merger we detected a bright optical transient located 10:600 from the nucleus of NGC4993 at redshift z = 0:0098, consistent (for H0 = 70 km s-1 Mpc-1) with the distance of 40±8 Mpc reported by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration (LVC). At detection the transient had magnitudes i=17.3 and z=17.4, and thus an absolute magnitude of Mi = -15.7, in the luminosity range expected for a kilonova. We identified 1,500 potential transient candidates. Applying simple selection criteria aimed at rejecting background events such as supernovae, we find the transient associated with NGC4993 as the only remaining plausible counterpart, and reject chance coincidence at the 99.5% confidence level. We therefore conclude that the optical counterpart we have identified near NGC4993 is associated with GW170817. This discovery ushers in the era of multi-messenger astronomy with gravitational waves, and demonstrates the power of DECam to identify the optical counterparts of gravitational-wave sources.

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