A Dark Energy Camera Search for an Optical Counterpart to the First Advanced LIGO Gravitational Wave Event GW150914

Journal Article · Fri May 27 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · The Astrophysical Journal. Letters (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/823/2/L33· OSTI ID:1253580

Soares-Santos, M. ; Kessler, R. ; Berger, E.; Annis, J.; Brout, D.; Buckley-Geer, E.; Chen, H.; Cowperthwaite, P. S.; Diehl, H. T.; Doctor, Z.; Drlica-Wagner, A.; Farr, B.; Finley, D. A.; Flaugher, B.; Foley, R. J.; Frieman, J.; Gruendl, R. A.; Herner, K.; Holz, D.; Lin, H. ; Marriner, J.; Neilsen, E.; Rest, A.; Sako, M.; Scolnic, D.; Sobreira, F.; Walker, A. R.; Wester, W.; Yanny, B.; Abbott, T. M. C.; Abdalla, F. B.; Allam, S.; Armstrong, R.; Banerji, M.; Benoit-Lévy, A.; Bernstein, R. A.; Bertin, E.; Brown, D. A.; Burke, D. L.; Capozzi, D.; Rosell, A. Carnero; Kind, M. Carrasco; Carretero, J.; Castander, F. J.; Cenko, S. B.; Chornock, R.; Crocce, M.; D’Andrea, C. B.; da Costa, L. N.; Desai, S.; Dietrich, J. P.; Drout, M. R.; Eifler, T. F.; Estrada, J.; Evrard, A. E.; Fairhurst, S.; Fernandez, E.; Fischer, J.; Fong, W.; Fosalba, P.; Fox, D. B.; Fryer, C. L.; Garcia-Bellido, J.; Gaztanaga, E.; Gerdes, D. W. ; Goldstein, D. A.; Gruen, D.; Gutierrez, G.; Honscheid, K.; James, D. J.; Karliner, I.; Kasen, D.; Kent, S.; Kuropatkin, N.; Kuehn, K.; Lahav, O.; Li, T. S.; Lima, M.; Maia, M. A. G.; Margutti, R.; Martini, P.; Matheson, T.; McMahon, R. G.; Metzger, B. D.; Miller, C. J.; Miquel, R.; Mohr, J. J.; Nichol, R. C.; Nord, B. ; Ogando, R.; Peoples, J.; Plazas, A. A.; Quataert, E.; Romer, A. K.; Roodman, A.; Rykoff, E. S.; Sanchez, E.; Scarpine, V.; Schindler, R.; Schubnell, M.; Sevilla-Noarbe, I.; Sheldon, E.; Smith, M.; Smith, N.; Smith, R. C.; Stebbins, A.; Sutton, P. J.; Swanson, M. E. C.; Tarle, G. ; Thaler, J.; Thomas, R. C.; Tucker, D. L.; Vikram, V.; Wechsler, R. H.; Weller, J.

We report initial results of a deep search for an optical counterpart to the gravitational wave event GW150914, the first trigger from the Advanced LIGO gravitational wave detectors. We used the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) to image a 102 deg$^2$ area, corresponding to 38% of the initial trigger high-probability sky region and to 11% of the revised high-probability region. We observed in i and z bands at 4-5, 7, and 24 days after the trigger. The median $$5\sigma$$ point-source limiting magnitudes of our search images are i=22.5 and z=21.8 mag. We processed the images through a difference-imaging pipeline using templates from pre-existing Dark Energy Survey data and publicly available DECam data. Due to missing template observations and other losses, our effective search area subtends 40 deg$$^{2}$$, corresponding to 12% total probability in the initial map and 3% of the final map. In this area, we search for objects that decline significantly between days 4-5 and day 7, and are undetectable by day 24, finding none to typical magnitude limits of i= 21.5,21.1,20.1 for object colors (i-z)=1,0,-1, respectively. Our search demonstrates the feasibility of a dedicated search program with DECam and bodes well for future research in this emerging field.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States); The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
• Contributing Organization: The DES Collaboration
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-07CH11359; SC00112704; AC52-06NA25396; AC02-05CH11231; SC0011726
• OSTI ID: 1253580
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1295213; OSTI ID: 1357114; OSTI ID: 1456944; OSTI ID: 1602515
• Report Number(s): FERMILAB-PUB-16-031-AE-PPD; arXiv:1602.04198; BNL-112471-2016-JA; LA-UR-16-20941; 1421418
• Journal Information: The Astrophysical Journal. Letters (Online), Vol. 823, Issue 2; ISSN 2041-8213
• Publisher: Institute of Physics (IOP)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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