A Neutron Star Binary Merger Model for GW170817/GRB 170817A/SSS17a

Journal Article · Fri Oct 20 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/AA91B3· OSTI ID:22654365

Murguia-Berthier, A.; Ramirez-Ruiz, E.; Kilpatrick, C. D.; Foley, R. J.; Coulter, D. A.; Pan, Y. -C.; Prochaska, J. X.; Rojas-Bravo, C.; Siebert, M. R. ^[1]; Kasen, D. ^[2]; Lee, W. H. ^[3]; Piro, A. L.; Drout, M. R.; Madore, B. F.; Shappee, B. J.; Simon, J. D. ^[4]; Rest, A. ^[5]

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1. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)
2. Nuclear Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)
3. Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior, C.U., A. Postal 70-264, 04510 Cd. de México, México (Mexico)
4. The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States)
5. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)

The merging neutron star gravitational-wave event GW170817 has been observed throughout the entire electromagnetic spectrum from radio waves to γ -rays. The resulting energetics, variability, and light curves are shown to be consistent with GW170817 originating from the merger of two neutron stars, in all likelihood followed by the prompt gravitational collapse of the massive remnant. The available γ -ray, X-ray, and radio data provide a clear probe for the nature of the relativistic ejecta and the non-thermal processes occurring within, while the ultraviolet, optical, and infrared emission are shown to probe material torn during the merger and subsequently heated by the decay of freshly synthesized r -process material. The simplest hypothesis, that the non-thermal emission is due to a low-luminosity short γ -ray burst (sGRB), seems to agree with the present data. While low-luminosity sGRBs might be common, we show here that the collective prompt and multi-wavelength observations are also consistent with a typical, powerful sGRB seen off-axis. Detailed follow-up observations are thus essential before we can place stringent constraints on the nature of the relativistic ejecta in GW170817.

• OSTI ID: 22654365
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 848, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
COSMIC GAMMA BURSTS
DECAY
EMISSION
GAMMA RADIATION
GRAVITATIONAL COLLAPSE
GRAVITATIONAL WAVES
LIMITING VALUES
LUMINOSITY
NEUTRON STARS
R PROCESS
RADIOWAVE RADIATION
RELATIVISTIC RANGE
SIMULATION
SPECTRA
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
VISIBLE RADIATION
WAVELENGTHS
X RADIATION